OK    Till 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

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Received 
Accession  .No. 


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No. 


A 


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MEMOIR 


OP 


HIS  HONOR  SAMUEL  PHILLIPS,  LL.  D. 


Wf 

EEV.     JOHN     L.    TAYLOR, 

ANDOVER,     MASS. 


'FINIS     OEIQINE     PENDET.' 


BOSTON: 
CONGREGATIONAL   PUBLISHING   SOCIETY, 

CONGREGATIONAL  HOUSE,  BEACON  ST. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  ill  the  year  1856,  by 

SEW  ALL    HARDING, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District O^urt  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


PREFACE. 


THE  effort  to  exhume  from  the  past  such  relics  as  may 
serve  to  portray,  with  any  degree  of  justice,  the  character  of 
one  whom  his  contemporaries  rather  admired  than  ventured 
to  describe,  is  unique.  It  may  seem  presumptuous  as  well  as 
arduous :  yet  with  a  fitting  subject,  it  has  some  peculiar  at- 
tractions. The  antiquarian  vein  is  struck  ;  interesting  his- 
torical reminiscences  blend  with  it;  incidents  of  the  times 
will  reflect  their  light  upon  the  subject  to  be  sketched  in  the 
foreground  of  the  picture ;  facts  worthy  of  note  in  topogra- 
phy interweave  themselves  with  it ;  the  causes  of  things  are 
laid  open  in  the  light  of  their  effects ;  the  study  of  "  endless 
genealogies  "  will  beguile  some  passing  hours ;  the  writer  and 
reader  will  stand  amid  the  scenes,  and  inhale  the  air  of 
ancestral  virtues ;  the  pure,  the  good,  the  true,  will  appear  in 
its  fine  essence,  divorced  by  time  from  the  passions  and 
prejudices  to  which  it  was  wedded. 

Yet,  the  expediency  of  such  an  undertaking  must  depend 
upon  the  urgency  of  the  occasion  for  it,  and  the  aims  with 


IV  PREFACE. 

which  it  is  prosecuted.  How  far  these  considerations  may 
justly  be  considered  as  weighing  in  the  case  of  this  work, 
the  work  itself  must  witness.  It  has  been  prepared  under 
advantages  of  position  and  relation  to  the  subject  which  it 
would  be  ungrateful  not  to  recognize,  while  yet  impeded  by 
great  embarrassments,  from  incessant  interruption  and  fre- 
quent suspension,  under  the  continual  pressure  of  numerous 
other  cares. 

Much  of  the  work  has  been  of  special  delicacy,  from  its 
connection  with  the  living  as  well  as  the  dead.  To  the  vari- 
ous members  of  the  family  of  Judge  Phillips's  descendants, 
and  to  some  others,  many  acknowledgments  are  due  for 
their  courtesy  in  furnishing  the  manuscripts  which  have 
been  used. 

It  may  be  thought  that  some  chapters  in  the  Memoir  are 
too  full,  and  others  too  brief;  or  that  in  some  other  respect  a 
due  proportion  has  not  been  preserved  between  the  different 
topics.  It  was,  however,  supposed  that  not  only  the  propor- 
tion, but  the  order  and  sequence  of  the  various  points  as 
they  appear,  would  on  the  whole  best  subserve  the  chief  ends 
of  the  volume.  So  great  a  departure  from  a  strict  chrono- 
logical arrangement  as  will  be  here  discovered,  and  such  a 
grouping  of  widely  scattered  facts  to  illustrate  in  succession 
separate  phases  of  the  character  and  life,  must  be  considered 
in  itself  undesirable ;  yet  no  other  method  seemed  fitted  to 
give  such  vividness  as  this,  with  its  occasional  repetitions,  to 
one's  impression  of  the  extraordinary  man  to  be  described,  in 
the  great  prominence  and  variety  of  his  characteristics:  and 


PREFACE.  V 

no  other  would  allow  such  freedom  as  was  desired  in  the 
occasional  interweaving  of  collateral  incidents,  or  in  sketch- 
ing contemporaneous  and  kindred  personages,  as  well  as 
events. 

Had  the  book  been  written  for  any  one  class,  large  por- 
tions of  it  might  have  been  omitted,  but  as  now  completed, 
what  may  seem  a  mere  incumbrance  to  one,  without  interest 
and  worthless,  may  possibly  be  of  some  value  to  another; 
there  may  be  a  local  or  a  personal  interest  where  it  cannot  be 
general.  The  utmost  care  has  been  taken  to  secure  the  copy 
from  errors,  yet  it  is  not  improbable  that  some  will  be  de- 
tected. 

In  the  letter  press  and  embellishments  of  the  work,  includ- 
ing the  portraits  of  Judge  Phillips  and  of  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor  William  Phillips,  the  writer  has  been  anxious  to  give 
it  a  dress  worthy  of  the  subject,  at  whatever  cost;  and  the 
Board  of  Publication,  in  their  liberality  and  good  taste,  have 
left  him  nothing  to  desire,  but  that  they  may  have  their 
reward. 

ANDOVER,  September  1,  1856 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ANCESTRY. 

Rev.  George  Phillips  of  Watertown.  —  Rev.  Samuel  Phillips  of  Rowley. — 
Samuel  Phillips,  Esquire,  of  Salem.  —  Rev.  Samuel  Phillips  of  An- 
dover  .  .  .  pp.  1-10 

CHAPTER   II. 

BIRTH    AND    CHILDHOOD. 

His  parents,  Samuel  and  Elizabeth  Phillips.  —  The  Old  French  War.— 
Only  surviving  child.  —  Effect  on  his  character.  —  Bias  toward  study. 

—  Amiableness.  —  Predominating  seriousness  1 1-16 

CHAPTER  III. 

ACADEMIC    LIFE. 

Fitting  for  College.  —  Byfield  Academy  and  Master  Moody. — Frail  health. 

—  Application.  —  Correctness  of  deportment.  —  Religious  tendencies  and 
traits        .  17-19 

CHAPTER   IV. 

COLLEGE    YEARS. 

Enters  College  at  Cambridge.  —  Character  for  studiousness  and  moral  up- 
rightness. —  Class  mates.  —  Rank  according  to  family.  —  Curious  ques- 

(vii) 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

tion  of  priority.  —  Promoted.  —  Incessant  application.  —  Ideas  of  time. 
College  journal.  —  Stamp  Act  and  other  political  scenes.  —  Activity  in 
Societies.  —  Graduates.  —  Salutatory  Oration.  —  Letter  to  his  father  on 
entertaining  his  friends  ........  20-30 

CHAPTER  V. 

MARRIAGE. 

Acquaintance  with  Miss  Foxcroft.  —  Their  attachment.  —  Disparity  of 
years. —  Opposition  of  his  parents.  —  Severe  illness.  —  "A  wounded 
spirit." — Objections  waived.  —  Marriage. —  Settlement  at  North  An- 
dover 31-34 

. 
CHAPTER  VI. 

PATRIOTISM. 

Revolutionary  impulses  at  Cambridge  and  Boston.  —  Interest  in  passing 
discussions  and  contests.  —  British  troops.  —  General  Court  in  Cam- 
bridge. —  Boston  Massacre.  —  Patriotic  dissertation.  —  Excitement  in 
the  Colonies.  —  Effect  of  these  influences  on  his  mind  and  pursuits.  — 
Engages  in  the  great  struggle.  —  Elected  Town  Clerk  and  Treasurer. 
—  Town  Meetings  of  Andover.  —  Resolves.  —  His  father's  interest  in 
the  struggle.  —  Elected  to  the  Provincial  Congress  at  Watertown.  — 
Activity  in  Committees  and  in  debate. — Notice  of  the  Congress. — 
Members. —  Spirit. —  Siege  of  Boston. —  Great  exigency  for  want  of 
powder.  —  Washington,  Putnam,  etc.  —  Arranges  with  the  Government 
to  erect  a  powder-mill.  —  Importance  of  this  aid.  —  Interest  in  retiring 
soldiers.  —  Self-denial 35-75 

CHAPTER  VII. 

CIVIL     SERVICE. 

Member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention.  —  Notice  of  the  Convention  and 
its  labors.  —  His  prominence.  —  On  Committee  to  draft  the  Constitu- 
tion.—  Debates. —  Constitution  adopted.  —  Election  under  it  as  Sena- 
tor.—  Appointed  Judge.  —  Time  and  importance  of  his  judicial  ser- 


CONTENTS.  IX 

vice.  —  Address  to  Grand-Jury.  —  Senatorial  career.  —  President  of 
Senate.  —  Commission  to  treat  with  insurgents  in  Shays'  Rebellion. — 
Success  of  the  embassy.  —  Elected  Lieutenant-governor.  —  French 
aggressions.  —  Letter  to  President  Adams  and  Reply.  —  Extract  from 
an  Oration  by  his  son.  —  Inclination  to  military  service  in  the  exi- 
gency under  Lieutenant-general  Washington  .  .  .  76-103 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

BUSINESS. 

Private  affairs.  —  Tact  and  energy.  —  Vigilance.  —  Farms  and  wild  lands. 

—  Stores.  —  Mills.  —  Night  journeys.  —  Broken  leg.  —  Exposure   of 
health.  —  Acquisition  of  estate 104-109 

CHAPTER   IX. 

HOME. 

Domestic  life.  —  Removal  to  South  Parish.  —  Mansion-house  erected. — 
Perils  to  his  life.  —  Correspondence  with  Madam  Phillips.  —  Character- 
istics of  the  writers.  —  His  eldest  son.  —  Letters.  —  College  life  and  hon- 
ors. —  Graduation.  —  Salutatory  Oration.  —  Marriage.  —  His  younger 
son.  —  Letters. —  Character.  —  Death.  —  Social  position  and  influence. 

—  Visit  of  Washington  to  him  in  his  Presidential  tour.  —  Incidents  and 
reminiscences.  —  Letters  at  Washington's  death  .         .         110-184 

CHAPTER  X. 

EDUCATION. 

Love  of  learning  in  the  Phillips  family.  —  His  special  efforts  in  promoting 
it.  —  Interest  in  schools  of  the  town. — Master  Foster's  school.  —  At- 
tention to  school  laws  as  Judge. —  Overseer  of  Harvard  University. — 
Address  to  students.  —  Degree  of  LL.  D.  —  Plans  and  originates  Phil- 
lips Academy.  —  His  favorite  work.  —  Originated  in  the  midst  of  war. 

—  Endowed  by  his  father  and  uncle.  —  The  site  of  the  School.  —  The 
Constitution.  —  Opening.  —  Act  of  Incorporation.  —  Arnold's  Treason. 

—  Hard  winter.  —  Dark  Day.  —  "  Andover  Hill."  —  Influence  in  orig- 


X  CONTENTS. 

inating  Phillips  Exeter  Academy.  —  Correspondence  with  Dr.  Phillips. 

—  Founding  and  Opening  of  Phillips  Exeter  Academy.  —  New  Acad- 
emy building  at  Andover.  —  Further  correspondence  with  Dr.  Phillips. 

—  Charitable  donation  of  Dr.  Phillips.  —  Sketch  of  the  Founders,  Sam- 
uel Phillips,  Esq.,  of  North  Andover,  and  Hon.  John  Phillips,  LL.D., 
of  Exeter;  also  of  their  brother,  Hon.   William  Phillips,  of  Boston. — 
Their  donations.  —  Prosperity  and  celebrity  of  the  Academy.  —  State 
grants.  —  Sons  of  nephews  of  Washington.  —  Letter  of  Washington  and 
Reply.  —  Number  of  pupils  in  Judge  Phillips's  lifetime.  —  Later  his- 
tory of  the  Academy.  —  Notice  of  His  Honor  William  Phillips,  of  Bos- 
ton. —  Character.  —  Donations.  —  Expansion  of  the  Institution.  —  The- 
ological  students  in  it.  —  Theological   Department  endowed.  —  Eng- 
lish Department  originated.  —  Whole  number  educated  in  the  various 
Departments.  —  Religious    spirit    pervading    the    course  of   study  in 
all 185-264 

CHAPTER  XL 

RELIGION. 

Religious  education.  —  Church  connections.  —  Letters  to  his  cousin  on 
making  a  profession  of  religion.  —  Letters  to  his  son  on  coming  of  age, 

—  on  Family  Prayer  and  other  religious  topics.  —  Charitable  endow- 
ments.— Religious  characteristics 265-312 

CHAPTER   XII. 

DECEAS  E. 

Decline.  —  Death.  —  Parting  mementos.  —  Funeral.  —  Tributes.  —  Remi- 
niscences.—  Dr.  Tappan,  Dr.  D wight,  Hon.  Josiah  Quincy,  —  this  Me- 
morial 313-331 


APPENDIX. 

Rev.  George  Phillips  of  Watertown.  —  Rev.  Samuel  Phillips  of  Rowley. — 
Rev.  Samuel  Phillips  of  Andover  and  his  children.  —  Samuel  Phillips, 


CONTENTS.  XI 

Esq.  of  North  Andover  and  his  children.  —  Social  rank  of  Samuel  Phil- 
lips, Jr.,  in  College.  —  Extract  from  College  records.  —  Addresses  to 
Washington.  —  Diploma  as  LL.  D.  —  Abstract  of  Deeds  of  "  Andover 
Hill."  —  Act  of  Incorporation  of  Phillips  Academy.  —  Phillips  Exeter 
Academy.  —  Lands  in  Maine.  —  Grant  of  General  Court.  —  Constitution 
of  the  Theological  Seminary 333-391 


M  E  M  ( 


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the 

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men 

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MEMOIR. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   ANCESTRY    OF   LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR   SAMUEL   PHILLIPS. 

"  THE  memory  of  the  just  is  blessed : "  whoever  has 
personally  known  the  late  Lieutenant-Governor  Sam- 
uel Phillips,  or  has  had  occasion  to  study  his  character 
and  life  with  much  care,  must  have  often  been  im- 
pressed with  the  vigorous  tenacity  and  freshness  with 
which  his  name  still  lives.  During  his  comparatively 
short  but  most  active  and  useful  life,  he  with  so  much 
individuality,  consistency,  and  symmetry,  exhibited  the 
essential  traits  of  an  attractive  and  noble  character, 
that  at  his  death  the  most  affecting  and  emphatic  trib- 
utes were  paid  to  him,  in  every  variety  of  form,  from 
men  of  all  ranks  and  parties ;  and  it  is  impossible  now, 
after  the  lapse  of  more  than  half  a  century,  to  speak 
of  him  to  a  survivor  of  that  generation,  without  ex- 
citing an  outburst  of  enthusiasm  in  praise  of  his  rare 
virtue?. 


2  M  I!  M  0  I  R     OF 

We  need  not  attempt  to  explain  under  what  influ- 
ences we  have,  at  this  remote  d:i v,  been  drawn  into 
this  deep  current  of  interest  in  him  as  the  study  of  our 
leisure  hours  for  many  years,  growing  only  more  eager 
as  it  has  been  protraeted  ;  nor  how  st rough  we  have 
come  to  feel  that  there  is  a  manifest  call  of  Divine 
Providence  pressing  upon  us  from  without  and  from 
within,  to  undertake,  amid  all  its  difficulties,  the  work 
of  preparing  some  suitable  memorial  of  so  extraordi- 
nary a  man. 

With  no  wish  or  design  to  add  any  lustre  to  his 
name  from  the  circumstance  of  his  honorable  lineage, 
we  find  grouped  prominently  around  him  in  the  life- 
pietmv  before  us.  the  portraits  of  several  of  his  ances- 
try, and  of  his  contemporary  kindred,  whom  any  just 
view  of  his  character  and  life  would  constrain  us  at, 
intervals  in  the  current  of  our  narrative'  to  sketch,  and 
who  are,  in  themselves,  deserving  of  commemoration 
with  him  ;  yet,  in  the  necessity  of  selection,  while  so 
many  of  the  family  name  have  distinguished  them- 
selves, we  could  properly  mark  only  such  for  special 
notice,  as.  besides  their  own  great  merit,  stand  in  the 
nearest  connect  ion  with  our  chief  aim.  the  delineation 
of  his  character. 

SAMUEL  Pmi.ur-s.  the  late  Lieutenant-governor,  was 
the  />.//  Samuel  in  the  line  of  descent  from  the 
young  son.  whom,  with  a  daughter,  the  //«r.  Gron/c 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  3 

Phillips  and  his  frail  wife  brought  with  them  to 
this  country  on  board  the  ship  Arbella,  in  company 
with  Governor  Winthrop,  Sir  Kiehard  Saltonsta.ll.  Rev. 
John  Wilson,  Isaac  Johnson,  Simon  Bradstreet,  and  oth- 
ers, in  1630,  landing  at  Salem  on  the  lUth  day  of  June. 
The  mother  of  young  Samuel,  borne  down  by  the 
hardships  of  the  long  voyage,  died  soon  after,  and  was 
buried  by  the  side  of  the  Lady  Arbella  Johnson,  in 
honor  of  whom  their  little  ship  had  received  its  name 
when  the  company  were  setting  sail. 

In  the  annals  of  that  early  period  of  our  history, 
no  man  is  honored  with  more  uniform  and  emphatic 
expressions  of  the  high  consideration  in  which  he  was 
held,  than  the  Kev.  George  Phillips;1  in  many  particu- 
lars he  reminds  us  of  his  worthy  descendant  the  'Lieu- 
tenant-Governor. Educated  at  Cambridge,  and  ad- 
mitted to  holy  orders  in  the  Church  of  England,  he 
was  yet  so  strongly  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  non- 
conformity as  to  be  ill  at  ease  in  his  work ;  and,  at 
the  ripe  age  of  thirty-seven,  we  find  him  enlisted, 
heart  and  hand,  in  the  congenial  enterprise  of  plain- 
ing the  Massachusetts  colony.  From  the  moment 

1  He  appears  to  have  come  over  at  the  expense  as  \\ell  a>  the 
solicitation  of  the  company.  Governor  Winthrop,  in  rendering  his 
account  to  the  Court  of  Assistants,  September  "2^,  Ki.'M,  savs,  -  I  dis- 
bursed also  for  the  transportacion  of  Mr.  Phillips  and  his  Hamily, 
which  was  to  be  borne  by  the  Generall  till  hee  should  be  chosen  to 
some  particular  congregation."  —  Records  of  Mass.,  Vol.  I.  p.  131. 


4  MEMOIROF 

when  he  stepped  on  board  the  Arbella  with  his  heart's 
treasures  by  his  side  to  the  day  of  his  death,  he  was 
a  leader  in  the  councils  of  the  Church  and  the  State. 
During  the  voyage  he  made  arrangements  for  cate- 
chizing and  preaching  regularly,  as  the  virtual  pastor 
of  the  company ;  and  at  an  early  day  after  their  ar- 
rival, notwithstanding  his  great  bereavement  in  the 
death  of  his  wife,  he  went  forth  with  the  boldest  and 
hardiest  to  begin  a  new  settlement  at  a  place  on 
Charles  River  which  they  named  Watertown.  Here, 
for  fourteen  years,  he  expended  the  wealth  of  his  rare 
learning,  wisdom,  and  zeal,  for  the  welfare  of  the  town 
and  of  the  rising  Commonwealth,  until  his  sudden  death 
in  1644,  at  the  age  of  fifty-one. 

It  is  implied  in  various  contemporary  notices  of  him, 
that  in  his  views  of  church  polity  he  was  a  pioneer,  for 
a  time  far  in  advance  of  his  brethren  in  the  ministry ; 
having  by  careful  study  of  the  Scriptures  early  been 
brought  to  adopt  the  main  features  of  Congregation- 
alism, in  distinction  from  the  two  extremes  of  Prelacy 
and  Independency.  These  convictions  in  regard  to 
ecclesiastical  polity  made  him  also  a  zealous  republi- 
can in  civil  affairs;  in  all  the  important  deliberations 
and  decisions  of  the  colony,  in  which  the  well-adjusted 
fabric  of  our  free  government  originated,  his  counsel 
was  sought,  and  had  great  weight.  Thus,  by  the  force 
of  his  own  independent  and  originating  character,  as 
well  as  under  the  influence  of  a  great  popular  move- 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  0 

ment  toward  full  civil  and  religious  liberty,  he  not  only 
became  eminent  in  his  own  day,  but  lives  still  in  the 
type  which  he  gave  to  his  wide  spread  and  remarkable 
family,  and  in  the  whole  civil  and  religious  order  of 
the  State  which  he  was  so  active  in  founding.1  At 
his  death,  "  he  was  much  lamented  by  his  church,  who 
expressed  their  respect  to  his  memory  by  educating 
his  eldest  son,"2  Samuel  Phillips,  who  was  born  in 
1625,  at  Boxted,  England,  the  place  of  his  father's 
early  labors  in  the  ministry,  and  brought  to.  this  coun- 
try when  but  five  years  old.  He  graduated  at  Har- 
vard College  in  1650  ;  and  in  1651,  was  settled  in  the 
ministry  at  Rowley,  as  colleague  of  Rev.  Ezekiel  Rog- 
ers, where  he  continued  to  labor  with  great  acceptance 
and  usefulness  for  a  period  of  forty-five  years,  until 
his  decease,  at  the  age  of  seventy-one,  in  1696. 

In  1678,  he  preached  the  election  sermon  before  the 
general  court  of  the  province.  In  1687,  his  faithful 
reproof  of  iniquity  involved  him  in  a  temporary  per- 
secution, and  he  was  imprisoned  "  for  calling  Randolph 
a  wicked  man."  His  piety  and  talents  are  spoken  of 
as  being  "of  no  common  order."  His  widow,  though 
they  had  been  married  from  the  very  commencement 
of  his  ministry  in  1651,  survived  him  nearly  eighteen 

1  See  Appendix  A. 

2  Allen's  Biog.  Die.  p.  476.     This  statement  of  Allen  has  been 
lately  questioned.     See  Bond's  Genealogies  and  History  of  Water- 
town,  p  874. 

1* 


6  MEMOIR    OF 

years,  so  that  their  grandson,  Rev.  Samuel  Phillips  of 
Andover,  preached  her  funeral  sermon.  The  original 
manuscript  of  this  discourse  is  now  in  our  hands.  Of 
his  revered  grandmother,  the  preacher  says,  "  she  was 
an  early  seeker  of  God,  and  spent  much  of  her  time 
daily  in  reading  the  word  and  in  prayer.  .  .  .  She  took 
great  care  of  her  children's  souls;  she  could  say  that 
which  one  in  ten  of  God's  children  could  not,  namely, 
I  biow  the  time  of  my  conversion.  She  was  always  hum- 
ble and  penitent ;  and  as  she  lived,  so  she  died,  depend- 
ing on  Christ  for  righteousness  and  salvation."  This 
incidental  mention  of  her  special  religious  watchful- 
ness and  solicitude  in  her  children's  behalf,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  ornament  of  her  own  meek  and  quiet 
spirit,  shows  with  what  unity  of  counsels  and  efforts 
these  most  estimable  parents  transmitted  to  their  pos- 
terity the  type  of  character  to  which  they  had  them- 
selves been  so  carefully  trained ;  so  that  not  only 
children,  but  children's  children,  were  rising  up  and 
calling  them  blessed.1 

Kev.  Samuel  Phillips,  of  Andover,  their  grandson, 
(in  the  line  of  descent  from  their  elder  son  Samuel, 
who  had  settled  in  business  at  Salem,  while  a  younger 
brother,  George,  devoted  himself  to  study,  and  entered 
the  ministry,)  whom  we  thus  meet  at  their  grave,  pay- 
ing his  tribute  of  affectionate  homage  to  their  virtues, 

1  See  Appendix  B. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  I 

here  rises  before  us  in  character,  and  mien,  and  man- 
ner of  life,  which  strongly  impress  us.  In  his  individu- 
ality, simplicity,  decision,  energy,  strength,  and  pristine 
hardiness  of  character,  he  abated  nothing  from  the 
spirit  of  his  worthy  ancestors.  He  was,  like  them,  also 
a  model  of  industry,  and  frugality,  and  resolute  self- 
restraint,  and  order,  in  all  that  he  did.  His  portrait, 
which  iiangs  before  us,  bespeaks  a  man  of  authority, 
born  to  command,  and  knowing  his  birthright ;  and 
such  was  he,  in  an  eminent  degree,  a  conscious  and 
acknowledged  leader  wherever  he  was  known.  Born 
at  Salem,  February  17,  1689-90 ;  and  graduating  at 
Harvard  College  in  1708,  he  was,  at  the  early  age  of 
twenty-two,  ordained  the  first  pastor  of  the  second 
church1  in  Andover,  on  the  17th  of  October,  1711,  the 
church  having  been  on  that  day  organized  in  the 
South  Precinct.2  There  is  yet  living  a  parishioner 
of  his,  hale  and  vigorous,  in  the  ninety-first  year  of 
his  good  old  age,3  who  distinctly  remembers  the  ven- 
erable pastor's  calls  on  horseback  at  his  father's  door, 
with  madam  on  a  pillion  behind  him,  which  was  their 
usual  mode  of  making  parochial  visits  in  company.  It 
was  his  habit,  in  the  regular  services  of  the  sabbath, 

1  The  present  Old  South  Church. 

2  See  Appendix  C. 

8  Mr.  Moses  Abbott,  born  November  30,  1765,  and  baptized  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Phillips,  the  Lord's  day  following,  December  1. 


8  MEMOIR    OF 

to  preach  to  the  full  hour's  end,  measuring  his  dis- 
course by  the  sands  of  the  glass  at  his  side.  One  tenth 
of  his  scanty  income  he  regularly  and  religiously  gave 
to  the  poor,  or  to  other  objects  of  charity ;  and  out  of 
his  estate  at  his  death  he  bequeathed  one  hundred 
pounds  in  trust  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  in  the 
church  of  which  he  had  been  pastor,  and  one  hundred 
pounds  "  for  ye  pious  and  charitable  use  of  propagat- 
ing Christian  knowledge  among  the  Indians  of  North 
America."  His  will,  making  bequests  in  detail  to  these 
charitable  objects,  and  to  his  wife,  children,  and  grand- 
children, and  executed  when  he  was  seventy-four  years 
of  age,  is  remarkably  minute  and  exact  in  its  specifi- 
cations, closing  with  these  characteristic  words,  expres- 
sive of  the  spirit  which  he  had  sought,  and  still  wished, 
to  breathe  into  his  children  :  — 

"  And  now  my  desire  and  prayer  is  y*  my  sd  three  sons 
may  continue  to  live  in  love,  and  y*  they  still  behave  respect- 
fully and  dutifully  towards  their  aged  tender  and  good 
mother,  even  unto  the  end ;  and  yfc  they  go  on  to  shew  kind- 
ness to  y6  motherless  children  of  their  beloved  sister  Lydia ; 
and,  in  a  word,  that  they  make  it  their  care  to  be  found  in 
Christ,  and  to  serve  their  generation  according  to  ye  will 
of  God,  by  doing  good  as  they  shall  have  opportunity  unto 
all  men,  and  especially  to  ye  household  of  faith  ;  as  knowing 
y*  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive." 

This  "  aged  tender  and  good  mother,"  the  "  daugh- 
ter of  the  worshipful  John  White,  Esq.,  of  Haver- 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  9 

hill/'  survived  him  only  about  two  years,  expiring 
in  the  bosom  of  her  son  Samuel's  family,  January 
7,  1773 ;  the  Kev.  Mr.  Phillips  himself  having  deceased 
June  5,  1771,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one,  after  a  pasto- 
rate but  little  short  of  sixty  years,  and  a  ministry  of 
nearly  sixty-two  years,  with  the  same  people,  and  with- 
out a  colleague,  retaining  his  vigor  and  his  command- 
ing hold  upon  the  respect  and  affection  of  his  people 
to  the  last.  During  the  course  of  his  ministry,  he  pub- 
lished numerous  occasional  sermons,  which  evince  his 
ability  and  faithfulness.  In  accordance  with  his  me- 
thodical exactness  in  every  thing,  his  discourses,  as 
preached  to  his  people  year  after  year,  were  all  care- 
fully numbered  and  filed  away  in  successive  volumes, 
large  numbers  of  which  are  still  preserved ;  his  hand- 
writing, even  to  the  latest  stroke  of  his  pen,  was  re- 
markably neat  and  legible,  though  often  in  extremely 
small  characters,  never  giving  any  indications  of  haste 
or  of  carelessness.  In  passing  from  the  parsonage  to 
the  meeting-house  for  divine  worship  on  the  sabbath, 
as  remembered  now  by  eye-witnesses,  flanked  by  his 
black  body  servant  on  the  left,  and  by  madam  and  her 
servant  and  the  children  on  the  right,  his  movements 
were  precise  and  stately,  as  became  his  ideal  of  the 
ministerial  office ;  and  when  he .  entered  the  sanctuary, 
it  was  in  meet  reverence  for  the  man  of  God,  as  well 
as  in  compliance  with  the  old  custom  of  the  day,  that 
the  whole  congregation  rose  and  stood  before  him 


10  MEMOIR    OF    JUDGE    PHILLIPS. 

until  he  had  seated  himself  in  the  pulpit.  So  he  lived 
and  passed  away ;  worthy  to  be  esteemed  by  his  peo- 
ple, as  Mather  tells  us  his  ancestor  at  Watertown  was, 
"  the  irrefragable  doctor."  1 

The  three  sons  mentioned  in  his  will,  as  referred  to 
above,  Samuel,  John,  and  William?  had  already,  even 
before  his  decease,  by  their  own  energy  and  sagacity, 
won  for  themselves  a  prominent  place  in  society,  and 
were  now,  in  the  prime  of  life,  showing  the  far-reaching 
power  of  that  exact  yet  liberal  and  high-toned  disci- 
pline to  which  he  had  subjected  them.  The  sketch 
which  these  will  successively  claim  at  our  hands,  is 
reserved  for  a  later  stage  of  our  narrative ;  and  we 
pass  now  to  the  chief  subject  of  this  memoir,  the 
grandson  of  Eev.  Samuel  Phillips  of  Andover,  (in  the 
line  of  his  eldest  son  Samuel,  also  of  Andover,)  His 
Honor ,  SAMUEL  PHILLIPS,  the  Lieutenant- Governor. 


1  Magnalia,  Book  III.  p.  84. 

2  See  Appendix  C. 


CHAPTER   II. 

HIS   BIRTH   AND    CHILDHOOD. 

IT  will  be  seen  from  the  preceding  brief  statements, 
that  there  descended  upon  his  young  spirit,  at  his  birth, 
the  richest  legacy  of  ancestral  virtues  and  memories. 
How  far  he  was  touched  by  the  inspiration  of  such  an 
influence,  and  how  worthily  he  reflected  and  trans- 
mitted it,  not  only  undiminished  but  in  even  fairer 
lustre,  the  story  of  his  life  will  testify,  though  wanting 
the  breadth  and  power  of  that  life  itself  as  it  was 
everywhere  impressed  upon  his  times. 

He  was  the  son  of  Samuel  and  Elizabeth  Phillips, 
of  Andover,  born  February  5,  1752  ;  the  youngest  but 
one  of  seven  children,  and  the  only  one  that  lived  to 
adult  age.1  It  was  at  the  beginning  of  this  year  that 
the  change  in  our  calendar  was  made  by  an  Act  of 
Parliament,  from  the  Old  Style  to  the  New  Style,2 
which  may  explain  the  discrepancies  in  different  no- 
tices of  the  date  of  his  birth.  The  house  in  which  he 
was  born  is  still  in  the  family,  occupied  by  the  widow 

1  See  Appendix  D :  — 

2  Holmes's  Annals,  Vol.  II.  p.  189. 

(11) 


12  MEMOIR    OF 

and  daughters  of  his  elder  son ; 1  a  spacious  and  ven- 
erable mansion,  with  few  marks  of  the  century  of  win- 
ters that  have  beaten  upon  it.  At  the  birth  of  young 
Samuel  this  home  had  just  been  completed ;  the  family 
having  removed  to  it  from  their  old  house  only  two 
or  three  weeks  before.  It  was  in  a  portion  of  this  edi- 
fice that  his  father  continued  his  business  as  a  mer- 
chant, adding,  year  after  year,  to  the  very  considerable 
fortune  which  he  had  received  with  the  hand  of  Miss 
Barnard 2  as  his  bride.  At  that  time,  this  portion  of 
Andover  could  scarcely  be  called  a  village,  and  the 
mansion  and  store  of  Mr.  Phillips  were  the  centre  of 
resort  for  a  wide  spread  agricultural  community  in 
the  region  which  embraces  much  the  richest  lands 
of  the  ancient  town.  The  native  deer  were  then 

1  Several  months  after  these  pages  were  written,  and  when  they 
were  nearly  ready  for  the  press,  Mrs.  Phillips  was  called  to  her  final 
rest.    It  had  been  one  cherished  hope  with  us,  that  we  might  contrib- 
ute to  her  gratification,  in  this  effort  to  commemorate  those  whom 
she  so  much  revered  and  loved ;  but  instead  of  this,  her  decease  has 
reminded  us,  as  we  have  gone  with  others  down  to  the  family  tomb 
and  gazed  on  the  garnered  dust  of  those  whose  names  we  seek  to 
honor,  how  soon  every  one  who  could  aid  us,  as  she  did  by  invaluable 
personal  reminiscences,  must  be  numbered  with  the  dead.     That  the 
work  we  have  undertaken  was  begun  before  the  last  relic  of  that 
generation  was  removed,  is  well ;  but  we  can  never  cease  to  regret 
that  it  was  commenced  so  late. 

2  Elizabeth  Barnard,  daughter  of  Theodore  Barnard,  and  grand- 
daughter of  Rev.  Thomas  Barnard. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  .       13 

roaming  abundant  in  the  forests  of  the  town,  and 
deer-reeves  were  annually  appointed,  as  regularly  as 
the  selectmen,  as  they  were  elsewhere  in  the  prov- 
ince. It  was  amid  such  rural  quiet,  industry,  thrift, 
and  beauty,  with  the  variety  and  quickening  stimulus 
of  merchant  life  at  home,  under  the  eye  and  borne 
upon  the  chastened  heart  of  the  tenderest  parental 
watchfulness,  that  the  early  days  of  young  Phillips 
opened. 

Yet  in  contrast  with  these  daily  home  scenes, 
there  was  another  current  of  influence  pouring  in 
upon  his  child-life,  which,  as  subsequent  events  show, 
strongly  impressed  and  tinged  his  character.  The  con- 
tinued encroachments  of  the  French  were  now  pre- 
cipitating a  decisive  rupture  between  them  and  Eng- 
land ;  and  soon  the  old  French  war,  as  it  is  commonly 
termed,  broke  out.  For  ten  years  the  excitement  of 
this  contest  continued  to  agitate  the  country,  the  cit- 
izens of  Massachusetts  being  ever  foremost  in  zeal  for 
the  common  liberty  and  safety.  The  summer  of  1755, 
when  Samuel  was  a  child  of  three  years,  was  the  era 
of  Braddock's  defeat,  of  the  capture  of  Nova  Scotia 
by  the  Massachusetts  forces,  and  the  repulse  of  Baron 
Dieskau  on  the  banks  of  Lake  George,1  so  that  the 
earliest  and  most  exciting  stories  which  fired  his  im- 
agination were  of  war,  —  war,  not  in  the  spirit  of  con- 

1  Holmes's  Annals,  Vol.  II.  p.  204-217. 

2 


14.  MEMOIROF 

quest  or  military  glory,  but  in  the  calm  energy  of 
patriotism,  —  war  for  the  soil  and  the  institutions  of 
his  country,  —  for  hearth,  home,  liberty,  and  life  itself. 
His  father  was  every  inch  a  patriot;  a  man  to  feel 
strongly  but  calmly  every  great  bearing  of  such  a 
struggle,  and  by  word  and  deed  to  impart  his  spirit 
to  the  son  of  his  hopes.  As  the  strife  wore  on  with 
varying  fortunes  through  the  whole  period  of  his 
childhood,  the  name  of  Washington  was  continually 
heralded  to  him  as  the  rising  star  of  hope,  to  be  cher- 
ished only  with  increasing  veneration  every  succeed- 
ing year. 

In  these  early  but  long  continued  impressions,  we 
find  the  origin  and  explanation  of  traits  in  his  charac- 
ter, and  of  enterprises  in  his  life,  which  had  well  nigh 
made  him  simply  a  bold  revolutionary  statesman,  or  a 
brave  military  leader.  Yet  the  ancestral  bias  in  the 
family  toward  a  literary  life,  together  with  his  frail 
constitution,  which  seemed  unsuited  to  physical  hard- 
ship, would  appear  to  have  countervailed,  in  a  good 
degree,  all  such  attractions  of  the  forum  or  the  camp. 
The  fact,  too,  that  his  parents  had  been  called  to  bury 
all  their  other  children,  made  him  an  object  of  special 
tenderness.  While,  therefore,  by  the  whole  force  of 
their  own  simple,  exact,  frugal,  busy  life,  they  were 
training  him  up  a  gentle,  amiable,  active,  winning  boy, 
fond  of  business  and  of  books,  the  plan  of  giving  him 
a  liberal  education,  as  his  most  congenial  line  of  life, 
was  early  matured. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  15 

To  be  an  only  child,  intent  on  manly  studies,  in 
a  family  of  the  strictest  method  in  all  its  life,  could 
hardly  fail  to  make  one  sedate,  grave,  orderly,  and 
manlike  beyond  his  years,  —  and  least  of  all,  a  boy 
of  his  temperament.  Had  the  glee  of  brothers  and 
sisters  rung  often  in  his  ears,  to  keep  alive  the 
freshness  of  boy  nature ;  had  the  goodly  home  been 
more  astir  with  childish  chat  and  incident,  —  the 
parents  looking  ever  gladly  on  the  full  circle,  instead 
of  meekly  bowing  to  their  desolate  lot,  —  this  darling 
son  would,  we  cannot  doubt,  have  been  longer  a  child 
and  later  a  man ;  he  might  also  have  been  more  robust, 
under  the  stimulus  of  sports  and  gambols  that  invig- 
orate the  frame,  as  well  as  of  emotions  that  swell  every 
nerve  and  muscle  with  the  fire  of  their  own  life.  But 
the  good  hand  of  Providence  had  not  so  ordered  his 
path. 

Growing  up  in  comparative  solitariness,  —  his  com- 
panions not  only  in  the  main  his  elders,  but  his  re- 
vered parents,  who  were  now  approaching  the  merid- 
ian of  life,  wearing  the  subdued  expression  of  mourn- 
ers, and  proverbial  for  the  strictness  of  their  habits,  — 
it  would  have  been  little  less  than  a  miracle,  if  he  had 
not  soon  come  to  be  spoken  of  as  an  uncommonly 
grave  and  considerate  boy ;  a  remarkably  systematic, 
industrious,  mature  child,  full  of  bright  promise  in  kin, 
dred  virtues  for  the  future. 

With  such  marked  traits,  early  germinating,  and  as 


16  MEMOIR    OF    JUDGE    PHILLIPS. 

rare  in  degree  as  in  kind,  he  appears  to  have  prepared 
the  way  in  his  very  boyhood  for  that  self-consistent 
ascendency,  which,  in  his  opening  manhood,  he  had 
gained  over  his  father  and  other  relatives.  He  had 
not  gone  out  from  under  the  parental  roof  before  the 
elements  of  his  character,  as  afterwards  perfected,  were 
distinctly  visible  ;  and  from  what  he  was  then,  a  boy 
of  a  dozen  summers,  he  never  departed  an  iota,  except 
to  add  virtue  to  virtue. 

From  his  father  alone  he  might  have  received,  in 
both  constitution  and  education,  his  early  habits  of 
prudence  and  exactness,  his  deep  sense  of  justice,  his 
patriotic  impulses,  his  tenacity  of  purpose,  and  his  ad- 
mirable self-government;  but  from  his  mother,  it  is 
said,  he  inherited  the  fire  which  glowed  in  all  these 
virtues,  the  nervous  restlessness,  which  not  only  im- 
pelled but  in  the  end  consumed  him,  the  enterprise, 
the  fertility  of  invention,  the  sell-immolating  spirit, 
and  withal  the  serenity  and  suavity  of  manner  with 
which  he  spent  himself  in  the  various  plans  of  his  life. 
From  both  he  drew  the  strength  of  a  calm,  practical, 
devout,  religious  faith. 


CHAPTER  III. 


HIS  ATION   FOR   COLLEGE. 

the  ap  in  the  spring  of  ; 

idemy,  in  Byfield,  (which  i 

:ordance  with  the  will 
.  r  William  Dummer,  devising  his 
purpose,) T  and  commenced  fitting  for 
• 

• 

JW- 

rm;   in  a  letter  to 
he  speaks  of  a  t 
red  as  subsiding,  ; 


3  until  Octol" 
at  Andc  nnon 

>ver|^  1 


' 


CHAPTER  III. 

HIS  PREPARATION  FOR  COLLEGE. 

AT  the  age  of  thirteen,  in  the  spring  of  1765,  he 
repaired  to  Dummer  Academy,  in  By  field,  (which  had 
been  established  in  1763,  in  accordance  with  the  will 
of  Lieutenant-Go vernor  William  Dummer,  devising  his 
estate  for  that  purpose,) l  and  commenced  fitting  for 
college  under  the  instruction  of  Samuel  Moody,  Esq. 
Here,  one  who  had  the  best  means  of  information 
respecting  him  says,  "his  proficiency,  his  manliness 
and  sobriety  and  regular  conduct,  secured  the  es- 
teem and  confidence  of  his  instructor  and  fellow- 
students."  2 

His  health,  however,  was  not  firm;  in  a  letter  to 
his  mother,  dated  June  25,  1765,  he  speaks  of  a  com- 
plaint under  which  he  had  suffered  as  subsiding,  and 
adds :  — 

1  This  Academy  was  not  incorporated  until  October  3,  1782,  two 
years  later  than  Phillips  Academy,  at  Andover,  and  more  than  a 
year  after  Phillips  Exeter  Academy. 

2  Mr.  Abbot,  in  his  History  of  Andover,  p.  144. 

2  *  cm 


MEMOIR    OF 

"  I  have  asked  Mr.  Moody  about  boarding  with  him,  but 
he  is  so  full  at  present  that  he  is  not  determined ;  shall  de- 
pend upon  your  coming  this  week,  or  at  farthest  the  begin- 
ning of  next  week  ;  the  horse  is  orderly,  I  should  have  sent 
him  by  Jonathan  Gage,  but  he  came  in  a  chair  and  could 
not  lead  him.  I  could  have  brought  him  home  a  Saturday, 
but  you  said,  if  Oliver  did  not  come,  I  need  not  concern  my- 
self any  thing  about  it ;  should  be  exceeding  glad  to  see  you 
as  soon  as  possible.  Mri  Moody  gives  his  compliments  to 
father,  and  thinks  that  it  is  very  necessary  that  I  should  have 
a  horse  here,  considering  my  health,  and  the  heat  of  the 


This  letter,  which  is  the  earliest  we  have  been  able 
to  obtain  from  his  hand,  is  subscribed  Samuel  Phillips 
3d,  his  aged  grandfather  having  lived  until  a  few 
weeks  before  he  graduated  from  college.  The  hand- 
writing is  here  unformed,  but  plain,  and  it  is  inter- 
esting to  notice  how  by  an  occasional  erasure  or  in- 
terlineation the  diction  is  improved,  showing  at  what 
an  early  period  he  began  to  pay  special  attention  to 
his  style. 

While  connected  with  the  Academy  his  religious 
character,  as  well  as  his  mental  discipline,  was  matur- 
ing rapidly ;  so  that,  when  admitted  to  college,  it  was 
with  the  best  safeguard  against  its  temptations,  and 
an  eager  desire  to  profit  by  its  advantages ;  although 
his  public  profession  of  religion  was  deferred  until  his 
Junior  year  in  college,  when  he  was  admitted  to  the 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  19 

church  of  which  his  father  was  then  deacon,  in  North 
Andover,  February  3,  1770.  When  this  step  was 
taken,  as  it  was  the  result  of  long  deliberation,  so  as 
the  record  shows  he  did  not  shrink  from  standing 
alone  in  it,  before  all  who  had  known  him  from  his 
birth. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

HIS    COLLEGIATE   LIFE. 

FROM  the  Academy  he  was  transferred  directly  to 
the  University  at  Cambridge,  when  but  fifteen  years 
old,  where  his  father,  his  uncle  John,  his  grandfather 
Samuel,  his  great>greai>uncle  George,  and  his  great- 
great-grandfather  Samuel  Phillips,  had  been  educated 
before  him.  "  He  entered  college,"  we  are  assured,  as 
we  should  have  predicted,  "with  a  habit  of  applica- 
tion and  order,  and  with  a  high  sense  of  moral  feel- 
ing and  love  of  learning."  l 

When  his  class  graduated  in  1771,  it  was  much 
the  largest  that  had  ever  gone  forth  from  the  insti- 
tution, and  none  so  large  left  it  again  until  1810.  It 
was  also  distinguished,  then  and  afterwards,  as  a  class, 
for  talent  as  well  as  numbers.  Hon.  James  Bowdoin, 
afterwards  United  States  minister  to  Spain,  David  Par- 
sons, David  Tappan,  Zedekiah  Sanger,  David  Osgood, 
Jonathan  French,  all  of  whom  became  eminent  as  min- 
isters of  the  gospel,  Winthrop  Sargent,  subsequently 
governor  of  Mississippi,  and  John  Warren,  the  first 

1  History  of  Andover,  p.  144. 


MEMOIR    OF    JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  21 

Hersey  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery  in  the  Col- 
lege, were  among  his  class  mates,  and  some  of  them 
his  most  intimate  friends. 

In  those  days  the  members  of  a  class  were  arranged, 
at  their  exercises  and  on  the  catalogue,  not  alphabet- 
ically, nor  according  to  their  relative  scholarship,  but 
in  conformity  with  the  current  family  rank  of  the 
students.  It  is  an  honorable  testimony  to  the  consid- 
eration in  which  his  father  was  held,  that  in  a  class 
of  sixty-three  the  name  of  his  son  should  stand,  as  it 
does,  the  seventh ;  evidence,  too,  of  the  weight  which 
was  then  attached  to  the  question  of  rank,  as  also  of 
this  father's  tenacity  in  maintaining  his  rights,  is  given 
in  the  circumstance  that  the  Faculty  of  the  College 
who  had  at  first  made  young  Phillips's  grade  the  eighth, 
were  constrained  by  his  father's  energetic  protest  and 
appeal,  to  modify  their  decision  by  a  formal  vote,  and 
place  him  one  name  higher ! l  —  a  transaction  so  pe- 
culiar and  alien  to  the  then  dawning  republicanism  of 
the  tunes,  as  to  have  led  to  the  disuse  of  this  artificial 
system  of  designating  rank,  soon  after  he  graduated, 
when  a  new  President  of  the  College  had  been  inau- 
gurated. 

During  the  college  life  of  young  Phillips,  there  is 
abundant  traditional  and  documentary  testimony  to  his 


1  See  Appendix  E.     Also  Quincy's  Hist.  H.  U.  Vol.  II.  p.  157- 
158. 


22  MEMOIROP 

great  diligence,  and  his  eminent  position  as  a  scholar. 
It  is  reported  to  us,  as  the  unanimous  testimony  of  his 
school  mates  in  early  life,  that  he  was  naturally  slow 
to  learn,  but  incessant  in  his  application,  and  of  an 
exceedingly  tenacious  memory ;  so  that  his  studious- 
ness  made  ample  amends  for  any  want  of  native 
quickness  of  parts.  The  fragment  of  a  brief  journal, 
mainly  religious,  which  he  kept,  covering  more  than 
two  years  of  his  collegiate  course,  is  still  preserved, 
in  which  there  are  frequent  references  to  the  value 
which  he  set  upon  his  opportunities,  but  especially 
upon  time ;  expressed,  ordinarily,  in  the  form  of  hum- 
ble self-reproach,  thus :  — 

"  February  25,  1768.  —  I  am  confounded  when  I  think  of 
my  misimprovement  of  my  time." 

"  April  3,  1769.  —  Have  improved  my  time  better  than 
sometimes,  tho'  have  misspent  a  vast  deal  of  it,  espe- 
cially evenings  by  sleeping ;  but  with  deeper  concern  I  may 
inquire,  how  I  have  neglected  my  soul's  concern.  The  chil- 
dren of  Christ  can  be  known  only  by  their  fruits ;  and  what 
fruit  have  I  brought  forth  1  have  I  not  great  reason  to  fear 
that  I  am  not  a  Christian,  that  I  have  nothing  but  a  profes- 
sion ?  Let  me  be  fervent  in  my  petitions  for  the  Divine  assist- 
ance, and  diligent  in  my  watchfulness  to  guard  against  sin." 

"  May  13,  1769.  —  Time  once  gone,  is  gone  for  ever.  We 
take  no  notice  of  it,  but  by  its  loss ;  how  short !  and  of  what 
vast  importance  is  a  diligent  improvement  of  it." 

"  November  25,  1769.  —  I  am  very  thankful  I  went  to  Bos- 
ton, for  by  that  means,  I  escaped  being  in  a  great  confusion 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  23 

in  the  hall ;  such  revelling  is  most  unfit  for  a  day  for  offering 
the  sacrifices  of  thankful  hearts  to  the  Great  Benefactor. 
"  This  week  I  have  been  more  diligent  than  any  other 
before  since  I  came  down,  but  have  let  slip  many  precious 
moments  unimproved." 

These  reiterated  and  intense  upbraidings,  instead 
of  being  evidence  of  any  special  misimprovement  of 
his  time  and  opportunities,  show  us  rather  how  keenly 
he  had  already  learned  to  feel  the  loss  of  a  single 
golden  hour,  —  how  resolutely  he  was  holding  himself 
to  the  best  possible  use  of  every  moment,  —  and  we 
shall  see  that  this  high  sense  of  the  worth  of  time 
grew  ere  long  into  a  consuming  passion  with  him. 

When  chastening  his  spirit  and  desponding  under 
his  sense  of  defect  in  this  manner,  a  line  from  his  gen- 
tle mother  would  sometimes  come  to  calm  him,  by  di- 
recting him  to  the  true  source  of  rest.  She  writes, 
March  7,  1768 :  — 

"  I  hope  your  various  employments  won't  take  your  mind 
from  the  things  of  the  greatest  moment ;  there  is  no  compare 
between  time  and  eternite,  between  the  favour  of  God  and 
the  friendship  of  the  world.  You  are  in  the  midst  of  temp- 
tations, enemies  within  as  well  as  enemies  without.  I  com- 
mit you  to  the  care  of  a  kind  Providence,  —  keep  your  mind 
easy,  it  will  be  much  for  your  advantage  upon  all  accounts  ; 
endeavour  to  conduct  so  as  to  lay  no  foundation  for  unea- 
siness. 

"  I  remain  your  ever  affectionate  mother, 
ELIZABETH  PHILLIPS." 


24  MEMOIROF 

His  intense  jealousy  of  himself  in  regard  to  the  use  of 
time,  although  one  of  his  most  prominent  characteristics 
at  this  period,  was  blended  with  a  kindred  self-scrutiny 
in  regard  to  his  manners,  his  morals,  his  interior  relig- 
ious life,  his  controlling  aims  and  motives,  which  in 
one  yet  so  young  are  very  extraordinary.  How  much, 
for  example,  is  indicated  by  the  following  brief  para- 
graphs in  his  journal. 

"  August  28,  1768.  —  I  am  now  beginning  another  week  ; 
may  I  be  enabled  to  perform  in  the  best  manner  (for  a  frail 
creature)  my  duty  to  God,  my  fellow-creatures,  and  myself." 

"  September  17,  1768.  —  The  week  past  my  father  and 
mother  were  at  Boston,  and  on  Thursday  I  went  to  Boston, 
when  my  father  bought  for  me  several  books  ;  how  thankful 
should  I  be  for  these  favors !  How  ought  my  soul  to  ex- 
pand with  gratitude,  and  in  what  better  manner  can  I  de- 
monstrate it  than  by  a  virtuous,  studious  life !  How  can  I 
answer  it,  if  I  neglect  these  golden  seasons  ;  now  is  the  time, 
and  the  only  time,  to  gain  those  accomplishments,  on  which 
my  future  usefulness  will  in  a  great  measure  depend." 

"  December  10,  1768.  —  I  have  heard  my  grandfather  this 
week  was  so  indisposed  that  it  was  not  supposed  he  would 
get  about  again ;  may  I  make  it  my  business  to  be  prepared 
for  the  agonies  of  dissolving  nature." 

"  December  17,  1768.  —  This  week  I  have  seen  my  father  ; 
it  refreshed  my  spirits.  What  an  affection  there  is  between 
father  and  son,  which  nothing  but  death  can  dissolve !  but 
is  my  soul  so  attached  to  my  Heavenly  Father  ?  My  heart 
often  expands  with  gratitude  for  his  liberality,  but  do  I  med- 
itate on  my  continual  uninterrupted  obligations  to  the  Father 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  2 

of  lights  ?  It  is  to  him  I  am  indebted  for  the  favors  I  re- 
ceive from  my  earthly  parents." 

"February  25,  1769.  — Have  enjoyed  less  tranquillity  of 
mind  since  I  left  home  than  any  term  before.  My  great 
foible  is  a  readiness  to  open  my  soul ;  to-day  my  chum  and 
I  had  some  variance  about  his  birthday,  but  I  hope  that 
maxim,  in  this  instance,  will  prove  true,  c  the  falling  out  of 
lovers  is  the  renewing  of  love.' " 

"  March  11,  1769.  —  How  cautious  should  we  be  of  giving 
causes  of  offence  to  one  another !  Whereby  can  the  chil- 
dren of  God  more  distinguish  themselves  than  by  a  meek, 
loving,  forgiving  temper  towards  each  other  ?  " 

"  March  25,  1769.  —  Last  Monday  evening  was  observed 
here  as  the  anniversary  of  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act ;  but 
the  fatigue  that  I  experienced  therefor  is  folly ;  I  have  mis- 
spent a  vast  deal  of  precious  time." 

"  August  19,  1769.  —  I  have  spent  this  vacancy  very  differ- 
ently from  my  purpose ;  made  no  addition  to  my  little  stock 
of  knowledge,  only  gained  a  little  farther  knowledge  of  the 
world." 

"  December  9,  1769.  —  Many  valuable  thoughts  are  gone 
entirely,  for  want  of  proper  care  to  lay  them  up  or  fix  them 
in  the  noble  repository  of  the  soul." 

What  various  and  pithy  utterances  for  a  youth  of 
seventeen  years !  But  young  and  self-distrusting  as  he 
was,  in  that  large  class  he  held  at  this  time  an  ac- 
knowledged ascendency.  In  a  notice  of  him,  written 
soon  after  his  death,  it  is  said1  of  his  character  and 
influence  in  college,  — 

1  Eliot's  Biog.  Die.  p.  378,  379. 

3 


26  MEMOIR    OF 

"  His  conduct  was  peculiarly  correct  and  exemplary.  He 
was  much  esteemed  by  his  fellow-students,  as  well  as  by  the 
officers  of  the  society.  Among  the  ingenuous  youth  of  the 
University,  were  certain  associations  for  practical  improve- 
ment and  usefulness.  They  consisted  generally  of  good 
scholars,  who  combined  good  principles  and  pure  morals, 
with  an  ambition  to  shine  as  sons  of  knowledge.  At  the 
head  of  these,  and  among  the  most  active,  was  Phillips, 
whose  name  and  character  were  often  mentioned  to  stimu- 
late others  to  adorn  their  own  lives." 

His  intimate  friend  and  class  mate.  Dr.  Tappan,  in 
his  discourse  at  the  funeral,  says :  — 

"  While  a  member  of  the  University,  he  was  a  model  and 
patron,  not  only  of  literary  industry,  dignified  manners,  and 
the  purest  morals,  but  of  devout,  ardent,  yet  rational  piety. 
He  there  displayed  that  capacity  and  zeal  for  useful  projects, 
which  remarkably  distinguished  his  future  life.  He  was 
either  a  founder  or  leading  member  of  three  select  associa- 
tions, devoted  to  scientific  or  patriotic  pursuits.  He  also 
earnestly  promoted,  and  ably  assisted  in  a  society  formed  for 
religious  and  moral  improvement.  In  the  meetings  of  the 
society,  he  gave  striking  proofs  of  his  proficiency  in  divine 
wisdom,  especially  in  the  gift  and  spirit  of  prayer."  1 

The  end  of  such  a  diligent,  exemplary,  and  useful 
collegiate  course,  could  not  well  be  unnoticed  or  un- 
honored.  It  was,  as  indeed  the  entire  period  of  his 
University  life  had  been,  an  era  of  alarm  and  agita- 

1  Page  10. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  27 

tion.  The  established  round  of  college  exercises  had 
been  often  disturbed;  and  so  far  as  can  be  learned,  if, 
on  taking  his  degree  and  in  the  previous  years,  he 
was  specially  honored  in  the  exhibitions,  there  is  no 
record  of  the  appointments ;  yet,  as  in  the  case  of  his 
college  journal,  the  fragment  —  evidently  nearly  the 
whole  —  of  a  salutatory  oration  in  Latin  is  preserved, 
which  he  appears  to  have  delivered  on  his  Commence- 
ment day.  The  oration  is  carefully  composed,  and  in 
its  graceful  references  to  President  Holyoke,  then  de- 
ceased, but  filially  commemorated,  to  Professors  Win- 
throp,  Wigglesworth,  and  Sewall,  and  to  his  tutors  and 
class  mates,  spoken  after  his  manner,  with  a  calm  ear- 
nestness and  sincerity,  together  with  the  hearty  enco- 
mium which,  both  in  his  exordium  and  his  peroration, 
he  bestows  upon  the  College  itself,  must  have  been 
warmly  applauded. 

In  anticipation  of  his  most  honorable  appearance 
in  this  part,  as  well  as  on  other  grounds  connected 
with  the  custom  of  the  day  and  with  his  'social 
position,  we  find  him,  in  the  following  letter,  con- 
ferring with  his  father  in  reference  to  providing  an 
entertainment  for  his  friends  upon  the  occasion.  The 
highly  deferential  tone  of  the  letter,  on  his  part, 
is  not  less  honorable  to  him,  than  the  evidence  it 
furnishes  of  his  rank  as  a  scholar,  and  of  his  father's 
unwillingness  to  determine  the  question,  without  first 
obtaining  his  own  considerate  views. 


28  MEMOIR    OF 

"  CAMBRIDGE,  May  27,  1771. 

"  HONORED  SIR,  —  That  period  is  just  at  hand  which  I 
have  been  looking  for  with  trembling  this  long  time,  but  its 
nearer  approach  raises  a  greater  solicitude  concerning  the 
event.  You,  sir,  at  our  last  interview,  seemed  undetermined 
in  what  manner  to  conduct  my  Commencement,  and  repeat- 
edly inquired  my  opinion.  I  found  the  same  difficulty  of 
proposing  any  thing  that  I  feared  would  not  be  perfectly 
agreeable  to  my  father,  that  I  always  did ;  indeed,  in  this 
case  I  could  not  offer  so  much  violence  to  myself  as  to  do  it. 
But  concluding  it  would  give  him  pain  not  to  know  his  son's 
inclination,  I  can't  excuse  myself,  if  I  do  n't  acquaint  him  of 
it  with  some  of  my  reasons,  that  he  may  have  an  opportu- 
nity, should  he  disapprove  of  my  sentiments,  to  show  the 
impropriety  of  them  by  the  suggestion  of  those  more  weighty 
arguments,  which  his  superior  wisdom  shall  dictate.  You 
asked  me,  sir,  whether  we  could  be  accommodated  in  town  ? 
I  would  answer,  there  is  no  doubt  of  it;  and  further,  it  is 
generally  (I  do  n't  know  but  universally)  imagined  that  there 
would  be  no  difficulty  from  the  government  of  the  College ; 
for  instances  of  the  kind  were  taken  no  notice  of  last  year. 
And  now,  sir,  if  I  could  be  persuaded  this  would  be  agree- 
able to  my  father,  I  would  make  no  hesitation  to  inform  him 
it  would  be  agreeable  to  his  son's  wish. 

"  And,  in  the  first  place,  I  can't  discern  but  there  is  a  pro- 
priety in  the  nature  of  the  thing,  for  in  any  joyful  event 
there  seems  to  be  great  fitness  in  calling  in  our  friends  to 
rejoice  with  us,  as  well  as  to  desire  their  attendance  when 
under  the  cloud,  to  impart  the  tear  of  sympathy ;  of  this 
opinion  have  been  the  most  venerable  of  our  fathers,  as  they 
have  evidenced  in  similar  circumstances,  and,  indeed,  in  the 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  29 

very  same  ;  and  among  the  many  respectable  characters  that 
I  might  mention  under  this  class,  whom  could  I  better  place 
at  the  head,  than  the  former  worthy  Judge  Foxcroft,  my  uncle 
Phillips,  Mr.  Bromfield,  and  the  like  ? 

"  That  this  is  a  time  to  rejoice  I  think  I  may  venture  to 
say ;  for  (thro9  the  goodness  of  God)  I  do  n't  know  how  I 
could  have  made  a  more  honorable  egress,  than  I  have  a 
prospect  of  making,  if  we  take  into  consideration  the  whole 
term  of  my  residence.  Many  instances  present  themselves  in 
Holy  Writ,  of  eminent  servants,  who  assembled  their  friends 
to  partake  with  them  in  the  happiness  of  any  prosperity. 
Some  of  the  other  sex  seem  to  be  so  connected,  that  it  is 
hardly  possible  to  avoid  inviting  them,  but  it  is  clear  that 
they  cannot  be  made  comfortable  in  College  ;  then  if  a  place 
is  provided  in  town  on  their  accounts,  others  seem  to  expect 
it  upon  good  grounds,  and,  indeed,  will  upon  their  own  ac- 
counts ;  those,  especially,  who  have  so  often  and  so  hand- 
somely repeated  their  invitations  on  the  same  occasion.  (The 
bearer  waits.) 

Whether  your  circumstances  don't  raise  such  an  expec- 
tation in  the  minds  of  all  your  connections  ?  —  especially, 
as  this  is  the  only  opportunity  you  can  have  to  show  re- 
gard to  friends  on  the  same  occasion: — I  don't  mention  the 
advantage  to  myself,  just  at  entering  the  world.  The  cost, 
I  know,  will  be  great ;  but  why  is  wealth  given,  but  to  be 
used  in  a  lawful  and  proper  way  ?  After  all,  sir,  with  all  the 
duty  and  veneration  that  a  son  can  show,  this  subject  is 
rested  with  that  wisdom  which  is  ever  a  rule  to  him  who  in- 
fallibly wishes  to  act  agreeably  to  his  kind  father. 
"  Duty  and  love,  sir,  if  you  please. 

"  S.  P." 
3* 


30  MEMOIR    OF    JUDGE    PHILLIPS. 

We  know  not  what  response  was  made  to  this  rep- 
resentation ;  but  a  discerning  father  could  not  fail  to 
be  pleased  with  such  a  letter  from  his  only  son,  so 
filial  in  every  line,  expressed  with  so  much  carefulness 
and  tact,  and  so  winning  in  its  modest  tone,  at  an  hour 
when  the  ardor  of  youth  might  without  censure  have 
written  in  a  more  eager,  if  not  imperative,  strain. 

With  such  propitious  auguries,  he  went  forth  from 
his  literary  home  at  the  age  of  nineteen  years,  bearing 
with  him  not  only  the  mental  discipline  of  which  he 
soon  began  to  make  such  use  in  public,  but  impressions 
and  impulses  derived  from  the  peculiar  circumstances 
of  his  college  life,  as  well  as  deep-seated  traits  of  char- 
acter, which  at  once  gave  direction  to  all  his  plans. 


CHAPTER  V. 

HIS   MARRIAGE. 

BEFORE  his  sun  had  set  in  Cambridge  one  star  shone 
out  in  the  clear  sky,  which  was  to  his  eye  evermore 
the  brightest  and  best.  It  was  here  that,  for  term 
after  term,  he  had  met  Miss  Phoebe  Foxcroft,  the 
youngest  daughter  of  Hon.  Francis  Foxcroft.  Their 
Sabbath  worship  was  at  the  same  church,  under  the 
ministry  of  the  venerable  Dr.  Apple  ton ;  they  were 
soon  personal  friends,  intimate  friends  ;  but  who  would 
have  anticipated  that  they  could  have  any  interest  in 
each  other  beyond  this  ?  She  was  nearly  nine  years 
his  senior,1  highly  cultivated  in  mind  and  manners, 
the  very  centre  of  an  attractive  and  courted  circle, 
sprightly,  ardent,  sanguine  :  he  was  sedate,  considerate, 
intent  on  preparation  for  full  manhood,  rather  than 
conscious  of  his  manliness,  and  must  have  deemed 
himself  extremely  youthful  before  her,  notwithstand- 
ing her  constitutional  vivacity.  Yet,  in  spite  of  this 
great  disparity,  their  acquaintance  ripened  into  a  de- 
voted and  lasting  mutual  affection. 

1  She  was  born  August  12,  1743. 

(31) 


32  MEMOIR    OF 

It  does  honor  to  her  sagacity,  that  she  should  have 
so  soon  seen  in  that  frail  youth,  the  type  of  rare  man- 
liness which  she  could  respect  and  honor  in  him  as 
her  husband ;  and  our  confidence  in  his  discernment, 
which  falters  at  first  when  we  see  him  thus  early  even 
so  much  as  entertaining  the  question  of  such  an  alli- 
ance, is  not  abated  but  enhanced,  as  we  find  him 
calmly  setting  every  adverse  consideration  aside,  and 
reaching  the  conclusion  that  she  was  preeminently 
fitted  to  be  his  wife.  For  in  truth  the  disparity  was 
rather  apparent  than  real.  When  he  was  but  eighteen 
and  she  nearly  twenty-seven,  she  was,  in  every  thing 
but  years,  the  younger  of  the  two;  and  so  she  al- 
ways appeared  after  their  union ;  while,  with  much 
diversity  in  their  distinguishing  characteristics,  they 
were  eminently  congenial  spirits. 

The  knowledge  of  this  attachment  fell  heavily  upon 
the  heart  of  his  parents.  They  saw  and  felt  keenly 
the  objections,  on  the  score  of  age,  —  and  these  were 
the  only  objections,  —  to  such  a  connection,  while  he 
who  had  weighed  them  all  and  set  them  aside,  was 
now  hoping  for  an  early  marriage.  A  steady  refusal 
to  consent  to  the  union,  and  even  a  demand  that  the 
connection  should  cease  to  be  thought  of,  was  all  that 
he  could  obtain  from  his  father ;  and  he  was  too  duti- 
ful not  to  yield,  however  great  the  sacrifice. 

It  was  with  this  bitter  weight  on  his  spirit,  in  other 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  33 

respects  so  glad,  that  he  left  the  college.  For  a  time, 
he  struggled  against  the  deep  current  of  his  feelings 
and  judgment,  if  so  be  he  could  possibly  ere  long  for- 
get her,  and  she  him ;  but  in  health  his  spirits  were 
depressed,  and  in  sickness  his  wounded  heart  was  his 
worst  malady.  It  was  in  an  hour  of  deep  solicitude  for 
him,  when  there  were  but  faint  hopes  of  his  life,  that 
his  parents,  who  had  not  been  sensible,  till  his  physi- 
cian then  told  them,  how  deeply  he  had  suffered  on 
account  of  their  opposition,  consented  to  yield;  and 
after  two  years  delay,  the  marriage  was  consum- 
mated, in  1773.  The  correspondence  by  which  they 
gladdened  or  solaced  each  other  during  these  years 
of  trial,  prior  to  their  union,  is  still,  to  a  large  extent, 
preserved  in  the  family,  full,  it  is  said,  of  the  incident 
and  the  romance  of  their  unique  position,  but  so  re- 
ligiously kept,  as  it  should  be  from  all  eyes,  that  we 
have  not  even  asked  to  see  it. 

Without  any  more  interior  view  of  the  case  than 
is  here  given,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  he  was,  in  all  this 
experience,  drifting  upon  a  strong  current  away  from 
the  life  of  study,  which,  as  an  educated,  scholarly 
young  man,  we  should  say,  now  opened  before  him. 
He  seems  to  us,  as  his  words  ring  out  upon  the  stage 
on  that  Commencement  day,  the  very  model  of  a  can- 
didate for  the  bench,  if  not  the  bar,  or  for  the  pulpit. 
He  will  surely,  we  think,  be  eminent,  too,  in  his  pro- 
fession; and  so  he  might  have  been,  nay,  probably 


34  MEMOIR    OF    JUDGE    PHILLIPS. 

would  have  been,  notwithstanding  any  thing  we  have 
yet  seen,  had  not  other  influences  also  here  been  press- 
ing as  strongly  upon  him,  to  throw  him  upon  a  widely 
different  career. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

HIS   PART   IN   THE    REVOLUTION. 

DURING  the  whole  period  of  his  college  life,  Cam- 
bridge was  the  very  focus  of  all  patriotic  sentiment 
and  agitation  in  the  country ;  as  it  had  been  indeed 
prior  to  this,  and  continued  to  be  afterwards.  Mr. 
Everett  says :  — 

"  If,  in  any  other  quarter  of  the  globe  it  has  been  objected 
to  seats  of  learning,  that  they  nourish  a  spirit  of  dependence 
on  power,  such  has  never  been  the  reproach  of  our  Alma 
Mater.  Owing  much,  at  every  period  before  the  Revolution, 
to  the  munificence  of  individuals  in  the  mother  country,  it 
never  was  indebted  to  the  Crown  for  a  dollar  or  a  book.  No 
court  favor  was  ever  bestowed,  and  no  court  lesson  ever 
learned.  Generation  after  generation  went  forth  from  her 
lecture-rooms,  armed  in  all  the  panoply  of  truth,  to  wage  the 
battles  of  principle,  alike  under  the  old  charter  and  the  new ; 
and,  when  the  fulness  of  time  was  come,  and  the  great  con- 
test approached,  the  first  note  of  preparation  was  sounded 
from  Harvard  Hall. 

"  Yes,  before  the  Stamp- Act  was  passed  ;  yes,  before  Com- 
mittees of  Correspondence  were  established  throughout  the 
colonies ;  before  Otis  had  shaken  the  courts  with  his  forensic 

(35) 


36  MEMOIR     OF 


thunders ;  before  a  breath  of  defiance  had  whispered  along 
the  arches  of  Faneuil  Hall,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College 
announced  in  his  Thesis,  on  Commencement  day,  the  whole 
doctrine  of  the  Revolution.  Yes,  in  the  very  dawn  of  inde- 
pendence, while  the  lions  of  the  land  yet  Jay  slumbering  in 
the  long  shadows  of  the  throne,  an  eaglet,  bred  in  the  deli- 
cate air  of  freedom  which  fanned  the  academic  groves,  had 
from  his  '  coigne  of  vantage '  on  yonder  tower,  drunk  the  first 
rosy  sparkle  of  the  sun  of  liberty  into  his  calm,  undazzled 
eye,  and  whetted  his  talons  for  the  conflict. 

"  Within  the  short  space  of  twenty-three  years,  there  were 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  six  men,  who  exercised  an 
influence  over  the  country's  destinies,  which  no  time  shall 
outlive.  Within  that  brief  period,  there  went  forth  from 
yonder  walls,  James  Otis,  John  Hancock,  Joseph  Warren, 
Josiah  Quincy,  besides  Samuel  and  John  Adams,  *  geminos 
duo  fulmina  belli.1  Yes,  fellow-students,  if  our  college  had 
done  nothing  else  than  educate  Samuel  Adams,  who  in 
1743,  on  taking  his  second  degree  maintained  the  thesis,  that 
it  is  lawful  to  resist  the  chief  magistrate,  if  the  State  cannot 
otherwise  be  preserved  ;  —  or  James  Otis,  who  by  his  argu- 
ment on  Writs  of  Assistance,  in  the  words  of  one 1  well  au- 
thorized to  express  an  opinion,  *  first  breathed  the  breath  of 
life  into  the  cause  of  American  freedom ; '  —  or  John  Han- 
cock, the  patriot  merchant,  who  offered  his  fortune  a  sacri- 
fice to  the  country,  and  placed  his  name  first  to  the  Declara- 
tion of  her  Independence; — or  John  Adams,  'the  colossus 
who  sustained  the  Declaration  in  debate  ; '  —  or  Josiah  Quin- 
cy, (your  honored  father,  Mr.  President,)  who  in  1774,  wrote 

1  The  elder  President  Adams. 


JUDGE    PHiLLIPS.  37 

to  his  countrymen  from  London,  '  that  they  must  seal  their 
testimony  with  their  blood;'  —  or  Warren,  who,  on  yonder 
sacred  heights,  made  haste  to  obey  that  awful  injunction  ;  — 
had  Harvard  College  done  no  more  than  train  up  any  one 
of  these  great  men  to  the  country's  service,  what  title  could 
it  need  to  the  world's  gratitude  and  admiration  ?  "  1 

When  the  troops  were  paraded  on  the  Common  at 
Cambridge,  on  the  evening  of  the  16th  of  June,  1775, 
prior  to  their  marching  to  occupy  Bunker  Hill,  Presi- 
ident  Langdon  offered  "  a  fervent  and  impressive 
prayer,"  invoking  the  Divine  favor  upon  the  momen- 
tous expedition.  At  the  inauguration  of  President 
Willard  in  1781,  when  the  issue  of  the  great  contest 
was  no  longer  doubtful,  Governor  Hancock  in  his 
speech,  called  the  College  "in  some  sense  the  parent 
and  nurse  of  the  late  happy  Eevolution  in  this  Com- 
monwealth ; " 2  and  while  the  struggle  was  in  progress, 
the  entire  college  community,  officers  and  students, 
became,  in  a  remarkable  degree,  identified  with  it 
We  find  this  entry  in  the  journal  of  Mr.  Phillips, 
among  other  indications  of  the  prevailing  college 
spirit. 

"  October  2,  1768.  —  Last  Tuesday  night  the  Senior  and 
Junior  classes  met,  and  voted  to  use  no  tea  of  foreign  produc- 
tion, till  they  should  see  fit  to  recall  the  vote.  On  Wednes- 

1  Address  to  the  Alumni,  at  the  Centennial  Celebration,  1836. 

2  Quinces  History  of  Harvard  University,  Vol.  II.  p.  244. 

4 


38  MEMOIR    OF 

day  night  the  Sophomores  and  Freshmen  voted  the  same, 
though  there  were  some  in  each  class  that  dissented  and 
were  very  resolute." 

When  the  legislature,  in  1769.  could  not  longer, 
with  due  regard  to  its  own  dignity  and  freedom,  sit  in 
Boston,  because  of  the  presence  of  the  king's  troops, 
it  was  promptly  adjourned  to  Cambridge,  and  held  its 
sessions  in  the  College  Chapel. 

In  the  journal  of  Mr.  Phillips,  who  was  then  in  the 
second  year  of  his  college  course,  repeated  references 
are  made  to  these  sittings  of  the  General  Court. 

<;  June  17,  1769.  —  Thursday,  the  General  Court  was  ad- 
journed to  meet  on  Friday  at  Cambridge."  —  "  July  1.  —  My 
father  got  to  court  some  time  before  it  sat,  which  was  to 
have  been  at  9  or  10  o'clock.  The  Court  received  a  message 
from  His  Excellency,  specifying  the  business  which  he  ad- 
vised the  House  to  proceed  upon,  that  so  their  inactivity 
might  not  by  any  means  be  charged  upon  him  ;  at  the  head 
of  the  particulars,  the  necessity  that  care  should  be  taken  for 
the  administration  of  government;  after  long  debates  upon 
it,  they  voted  unanimously  (the  speaker  not  excepted)  not  to 
grant  his  salary."  — "  July  8.  —  This  week  the  Court  have 
continued  sitting ;  voted  not  to  grant  the  governor  his  salary 
for  the  present,  not  to  chuse  an  agent  in  America  or  Great 
Britain,  —  passed  a  number  of  spirited  Resolves,  etc." 

It  was  at  just  this  period,  when  the  patriot  legisla- 
ture was  here  making  its  stand  for  freedom,  that  Pres- 
ident Holyoke  died,  (of  whose  funeral  Mr.  Phillips, 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  39 

gives  a  minute  account,)  and  President  Locke  was 
chosen  in  his  place,  partly,  if  not  mainly,  because  he 
was  "  a  friend  to  liberty ; "  as  we  are  assured  that  "  at 
this  period  no  individual,  not  known  to  be  favorable 
to  the  popular  cause,  could  have  been  elected  Presi- 
dent, whatever  might  have  been  his  literary  qualifica- 
tions." l  In  fact  the  Provincial  Congress  had,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1775,  ordered  a  committee  to  bring  in  a  resolve, 
recommending  to  the  Corporation  and  Overseers  of 
the  College,  "not  to  appoint  any  person  as  Governor 
or  Instructor,  but  such  whose  political  principles  they 
can  depend  upon,  and  to  inquire  into  the  principles 
of  such  as  are  now  in  office,  and  dismiss  those  who 
are  not  friendly  to  the  country ; "  and  the  Resolve 
passed.2 

The  year  previous  to  this  election,  according  to  Mr. 
Quincy,  (1768,)  "when  the  patronage  of  American 
manufactures  was  the  test  of  patriotism,  the  students 
of  the  senior  class  unanimously  voted  Ho  take  their 
degrees  in  the  manufactures  of  the  country.'  This 
resolution  was  publicly  applauded  in  the  journals  of 
the  day,  as  reflecting  the  highest  honor  on  the  College ; 
and  at  the  ensuing  Commencement,  in  July,  the  class 
came  dressed  accordingly,  in  American  manufactures, 
and  were  permitted  by  the  governors  of  the  College 

1  Quincy's  History  Harvard  University,  Vol.  II.  p.  150,  151. 

2  See  Journal  of  the  Congress,  p.  134. 


40  MEMOIR    OF 

to  appear  in  them  on  the  stage,  when  they  took  their 
degrees."  A  letter  from  Kev.  Andrew  Eliot  to  Thomas 
Hollis,  gives  the  following  account  of  the  effects  of  the 
political  excitements  of  the  times  on  the  students. 

"  The  removal  of  the  General  Court  to  Cambridge  hinders 
the  scholars  in  their  studies.  The  young  gentlemen  are  al- 
ready taken  up  with  politics.  They  have  caught  the  spirit 
of  the  times.  Their  declamations  and  forensic  disputes 
breathe  the  spirit  of  liberty.  This  has  always  been  encour- 
aged, but  they  have  sometimes  been  wrought  up  to  such  a 
pitch  of  enthusiasm,  that  it  has  been  difficult  for  their  tutors 
to  keep  them  within  due  bounds ;  but  their  tutors  are  fearful 
of  giving  too  great  a  check  to  a  disposition  which  may,  here- 
after, fill  the  country  with  patriots,  and  choose  to  leave  it  to 
age  and  experience  to  check  their  ardor."  1 

In  1770,  also,  as  well  as  in  1769,  the  legislature  sat 
in  Cambridge,  thus  continuing  to  fan  the  patriotic 
flame  with  which  it  had  fired  the  students  ;  and 
through  all  this  period,  the  insolence  of  British  tyr- 
anny in  Boston,  which  had  driven  the  General  Court 
to  this  dignified  retreat,  was  kindling  the  spirit  of  in- 
dignation, as  well  as  the  spirit  of  liberty ;  every  pul- 
sation of  which  throbbed  quick  through  the  college 
artery,  as  it  beat  strong  in  the  city  heart. 

In  June,  1768,  Governor  Bernard  had  summarily 
dissolved  the  General  Court  because  of  its  patriotic 

1  Quincy's  History  Harvard  University,  p.  163. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  41 

firmness  in  resisting  the  encroachments  of  the  Crown; 
the  selectmen  of  Boston  instantly  concerted  measures 
to  secure  a  convention  of  delegates  from  the  several 
towns  in  the  Commonwealth,  "  to  deliberate  on  consti- 
tutional measures  to  obtain  redress  of  their  griev- 
ances ; "  in  September  this  assembly,  composed  of 
"committees"  from  ninety-six  towns  and  eight  dis- 
tricts, met,  and  after  disclaiming  all  legislative  author- 
ity, "  petitioned  the  governor ;  made  loyal  professions ; 
expressed  their  aversion  to  standing  armies,  to  tumults 
and  disorders,  their  readiness  to  assist  in  suppressing 
riots  and  preserving  the  peace ;  recommended  patience 
and  good  order ;  and,  after  a  short  session,  dissolved." * 
The  father  of  Mr.  Phillips  was  an  active  member  of 
this  convention,  stimulating  his  son's  zeal  in  the  cause 
of  liberty,  not  less  than  his  own,  by  his  participation 
in  such  counsels.  It  was  on  spirits  already  so  excited 
and  sensitive,  that  the  news  of  an  approaching  British 
armament  fell  like  an  electric  shock.  The  very  next 
day  after  the  convention  rose,  "  two  British  regiments 
escorted  by  seven  armed  vessels,  arrived  at  Boston 
from  Halifax." 2  Dr.  Holmes  says :  — 

"  The  fleet  having  taken  a  station  which  commanded  the 
town,  the  troops,  under  cover  of  the  cannon  of  the  ships, 

1  Holmes's  Annals,  Vol.  II.  p.  285. 

2  Works  of  John  Adams,  by  his  grandson,  Charles  Francis  Adams, 
Vol.  H.  p.  213. 

4* 


42  MEMOIR    OF 

landed  without  molestation,  and  to  the  number  of  upward 
of  seven  hundred  men,  marched  with  muskets  charged,  bay- 
onets fixed,  martial  music,  and  the  usual  military  parade,  into 
the  Common.  In  the  evening,  the  selectmen  of  Boston 
were  required  to  quarter  the  two  regiments  in  the  town ;  but 
they  absolutely  refused.  A  temporary  shelter,  however,  in 
Faneuil  Hall,  was  permitted  to  one  regiment,  that  was  with- 
out its  camp  equipage.  The  next  day,  the  State  house,  by 
order  of  the  governor,  was  opened  for  the  reception  of  the 
soldiers ;  and,  after  the  quarters  were  settled,  two  field-pieces 
with  the  main  guard  were  stationed  just  in  front.  Every 
thing  was  calculated  to  excite  the  indignation  of  the  inhab- 
itants. The  lower  floor  of  the  State  house,  which  had  been 
used  by  gentlemen  and  merchants  as  an  exchange,  the  rep- 
resentatives' chamber,  the  court  house,  Faneuil  Hall,  — 
places  with  which  were  intimately  associated  ideas  of  jus- 
tice and  freedom,  as  well  as  of  convenience  and  utility, — 
were  now  filled  with  regular  soldiers.  Guards  were  placed 
at  the  doors  of  the  State  house,  through  which  the  council 
must  pass  in  going  to  their  own  chamber.  The  Common 
was  covered  with  tents.  Soldiers  were  constantly  marching 
and  countermarching  to  relieve  the  guards.  The  sentinels 
challenged  the  inhabitants  as  they  passed.  The  Lord's  day 
was  profaned,  and  the  devotion  of  the  sanctuary  disturbed, 
by  the  sound  of  drums  and  other  military  music."  l 

Mr.  Phillips's  account  of  this  exciting  event,  as  en- 
tered in  his  journal,  is :  — 

1  Holmes's   Annals,   Vol.  II.  285-86.     Also,  Memoir  of  Josiah 
Quincy,  Jr.,  by  his  son,  p.  17,  18. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  43 

"  October  1,  1768.  —  This  week  two  regiments  came  to 
Boston.  The  governor  called  the  council  together,  that  there 
might  be  provision  made  for  the  regiments  in  Boston;  but 
the  council  told  him  it  was  in  the  face  of  an  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment, to  make  any  provision  for  his  majesty's  troops  before 
the  barracks  at  the  castle  were  full,  and  that  they  imagined  the 
barracks  sufficient  to  contain  all  that  were  coming ;  —  which 
occasioned  warm  words,  but  the  council  would  not  yield. 
This  day  about  one  thousand  men  came  ashore  prepared 
in  the  best  manner  for  a  fight,  after  the  men-of-war  had 
surrounded  the  town,  their  great  guns  charged  with  chain- 
shot." 

It  will  be  seen,  by  comparing  dates,  that  on  the 
Tuesday  and  Wednesday  following,  the  students  passed 
their  spirited  votes  already  cited,  not  to  use  any  more 
tea.  Later  in  the  month,  Mr.  Phillips  says,  "  I  saw  the 
regiments  and  heard  of  their  hardships ; "  so  impossible 
was  it  for  the  royal  governor  to  enforce  his  demands 
for  their  accommodation. 

In  November  a  portion  of  two  other  regiments  ar- 
rived. The  Legislature,  as  we  have  already  seen,  in- 
dignantly refusing  to  sit  during  the  two  succeeding 
years  in  the  State  house  thus  invaded,  and  in  the 
vicinity  of  troops  marshalled  to  overawe  the  people, 
had  been  convened  at  Cambridge ;  and  with  continual 
collision  and  exasperation,  growing  out  of  this  high- 
handed step  of  quartering  the  soldiers  in  the  city, 
the  catastrophe  of  the  massacre  on  the  evening  of 


44  MEMOIR    OF 

March  5,  1770,  at  last  threw  the  town  instantly  into 
the  greatest  commotion ;  the  drums  beat  to  arms, 
the  alarm-bells  rang,  thousands  of  the  inhabitants 
thronged  the  streets.  Early  the  next  morning  the 
citizens,  by  a  unanimous  vote,  formally  notified  the 
Lieutenant-Go vernor  and  Council,  who  were  deliberat- 
ing upon  the  event,  "  that  nothing  can  rationally  be 
expected  to  restore  the  peace  of  the  town,  and  prevent 
blood  and  carnage,  but  the  immediate  removal  of  the 
troops,"  which  was  at  once  stipulated.  The  funeral 
of  the  four  men  who  had  fallen  in  this  tragedy,  and 
were  buried  together,  was  a  memorable  spectacle  in 
honor  of  them  personally  as  martyrs,  but  still  more  of 
the  cause  in  which  they  had  died.  The  immense  pro- 
cession was  formed  in  ranks  six  abreast,  closed  by  a 
long  train  of  carriages  belonging  to  the  principal  per- 
sons in  the  town. 

Yet,  exasperated  as  the  people  were  to  the  last  de- 
gree, John  Adams  and  Josiah  Quincy  —  the  very  oracles 
of  popular  liberty  —  consented  to  act  as  counsel  for 
Captain  Preston  and  the  soldiers  when  arraigned,  lest 
it  should  be  thought  that  in  such  a  tumult  they  could 
not  have  a  fair  trial  ;  and  the  jury,  with  equal  courage 
and  justice,  calmly  rendered  their  verdict  according 
to  the  law.1 


1  Works  of  John  Adams,  by  his  grandson,  Charles  Francis  Ad- 
ams, Vol.  II.  p.  230,  231 ;  also  Memoir  of  Josiah  Quincy,  Jr.,  p.  31-64. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  45 

Who  can  wonder  that  "  the  removal  of  the  General 
Court  to  Cambridge,"  in  times  like  these,  "disturbed 
the  scholars  in  their  studies ; "  or  that  "  their  decla- 
mations and  forensic  disputes  breathed  the  spirit  of 
liberty !  "  Their  fathers  and  brothers  were  inaugurate 
ing  a  REVOLUTION,  whose  master-spirits  had  gone  forth 
from  those  very  halls.  The  crisis  touched  them  per- 
sonallt/,  and  not  merely  nationally.  This  was  especially 
true  of  Mr.  Phillips,  so  many  of  whose  relatives  were 
in  Boston,  sharing  in  these  agitations  and  suffering 
from  them.  Josiah  Quincy  —  u  the  Boston  Cicero  "  — 
whose  flashing  eye  and  clarion  voice  everywhere  meet 
us  in  this  opening  of  the  great  drama,  was  his  cousin 
by  marriage ;  his  uncle,  Hon.  William  Phillips,  and  his 
cousin,  the  late  Lieutenant-Go vernor  William  Phillips, 
whom  he  often  visited,  were  conspicuous  in  the  strug- 
gle then,  and  still  more  so  afterwards ;  while  his  stead- 
fast father,  as  a  member  of  the  General  Court,  and  of 
the  convention  of  u  committees,"  was  often  forsaking  his 
rural  home  to  come  down  and  share  in  the  conflict. 
In  a  college  theme  on  Liberty  at  this  crisis,  Mr.  Phillips 
writes  in  the  following  strain  :  — 

"  Let  this  truth  be  indelibly  engraved  on  our  breasts,  that 
we  cannot  be  happy  without  we  are  free,  and  may  it  have  a 
desirable  effect.  The  cause  requires  our  utmost  vigilance; 
we  should  watch  against  every  encroachment,  and  with  all 
the  fortitude  of  calm,  intrepid  resolution  oppose  them,  lest 


46  MEMOIR    OF 

the  burden  should  become  too  great,  or  from  length  of  time 
acquire  such  a  force  that  the  difficulty  will  become  insur- 
mountable. It  is  a  matter  of  very  great  importance.  The 
consequences  will  not  only  be  great,  but  very  lasting.  Un- 
born generations  will  either  bless  us  for  our  activity  and  mag- 
nanimity, or  curse  us  for  our  sloth  and  pusillanimity.  But 
let  an  Englishman  forever  keep  silence  (a  reflection  which  I 
can 't  forbear)  when  he  can't  pass  the  streets  without  seeing 
instances  of  the  cruel  usurpation  of  those  rights  and  privi- 
leges, for  the  defence  of  which  whole  kingdoms  are  ready  to 
sacrifice  their  lives  and  fortunes.  Happy,  thrice  happy,  would 
it  be  for  us,  if  all,  in  their  several  spheres,  would  lend  a  help- 
ing hand  for  this  grand  enterprise,  so  that  every  man  may  sit 
down  under  his  own  vine  and  fig-tree." 

It  was  not  merely  the  natural  influence  of  these 
Boston  experiences  on  Cambridge,  nor  the  influence 
of  that  spontaneous  and  universal  enthusiasm  in  the 
cause  of  liberty  which  thrilled  the  College,  that  was 
impressing  itself  deeply  on  the  young  student.  He 
had  come  to  the  University,  the  representative  of  a 
patriotic  family,  now  more  than  ever  aglow  with  a 
self-sustained  enthusiasm  in  the  popular  cause  ;  he 
could  not  remember  a  year  in  which  wars  and  rumors 
of  wars  were  any  but  the  most  familiar  sounds  in  his 
ear.  If  the  patriotic  excitement  of  his  childhood  in 
the  Old  French  War  could  have  subsided  in  any  degree, 
as  he  gave  himself  to  study,  the  passing  of  the  Stamp- 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  47 

Act  with  kindred  measures  by  Parliament,  had  served 
to  keep  it  alive.  War  itself  could  not  have  agitated 
him,  or  the  country,  more. 

The  Act  was  passed  in  January,  1765,  when  he  was 
about  to  enter  the  Academy  at  Byfield,  to  take  effect 
on  the  first  of  November  following.  These  months 
were  a  most  eventful  interim.  The  legislatures  of  sev- 
eral of  the  colonies,  at  their  sessions,  passed  spirited 
resolves  denying  the  right  of  Parliament  thus  to  tax 
his  majesty's  loyal  subjects ;  the  General  Court  of 
Massachusetts,  besides  passing  such  resolutions  of  the 
strongest  character,  proposed  a  congress  of  deputies 
from  all  the  colonies,  which  was  held  in  October,  at 
New  York,  composed  of  delegates  from  Massachusetts, 
Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  and  South  Carolina, 
(the  assemblies  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  Geor- 
gia being  prevented  by  their  governors  from  sending 
deputations,)  and  at  which  the  most  determined  stand 
was  made  in  defence  of  their  rights. 

Nor  did  the  spirit  of  freedom  take  on  these  orderly 
forms  alone.  Riots  and  excesses  broke  out  in  spite  of 
every  restraint.  At  Boston,  especially,  there  were  re- 
peated and  alarming  tumults,  in  one  of  which,  the 
house  of  Lieutenant-Governor  Hutchinson  was  sacked, 
—  "the  plate,  family  pictures,  most  of  the  furniture, 
the  wearing  apparel,  about  nine  hundred  pounds  ster- 
ling in  money,  and  the  manuscripts  and  books  which 


48  MEMOIR    OF 

he  had  been  thirty  years  collecting,  besides  many 
public  papers  in  his  custody,  being  either  carried  off  or 
destroyed." l 

With  such  exciting  antecedents  in  every  direction, 
the  first  of  November  drew  near.  The  demonstrations 
of  sorrow  and  scorn  with  which  the  day  was  greeted 
when  it  dawned,  were  of  the  most  emphatic  charac- 
ter. 

At  Philadelphia,  when  the  vessels  which  brought  the 
stamps  came  in.  all  the  colors  of  the  shipping  in  port 
were  hung  at  half  mast,  and  the  bells  of  the  city  were 
muffled  and  tolled  till  sunset.  In  New  York,  there 
were  no  bounds  to  the  violence  of  the  mob,  counte- 
nanced by  thousands  of  the  less  reckless  citizens ;  the 
Lieutenant-Governor,  who  had  received  the  stamps  and 
made  extraordinary  exertions  to  have  them  secure, 
was  first  hung  and  then  burnt  in  effigy,  his  own  coach 
having  been  dragged  from  his  stable  to  bear  the  effigy 
in  the  mock  procession,  and  at  the  close  cast  into  the 
bonfire  and  consumed.  Early  in  the  morning,  at  Bos- 
ton, there  was  a  general  tolling  of  the  bells,  and 
through  the  day  many  of  the  stores  were  shut,  while 
effigies  of  such  as  favored  the  Act  were  paraded  about 
the  streets,  and  at  last  torn  in  pieces  by  the  frantic 
populace. 

1  Holmes's  Annals,  Vol.  II.  p.  272. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  49 

In  Portsmouth  and  several  adjacent  towns  an  unique 
pageant  was  concerted. 

"  All  the  bells,"  in  the  words  of  our  annalist,  "  were  tolled 
to  denote  the  decease  of  Liberty ;  and,  in  the  course  of  the 
day,  notice  was  given  to  her  friends  to  attend  her  funeral. 
A  coffin,  neatly  ornamented,  and  inscribed  with  '  LIBERTY, 
aged  CXLV  years '  was  prepared  for  the  funeral  procession, 
which  began  from  the  State  house,  attended  with  two  un- 
braced drums.  Minute-guns  were  fired  until  the  corpse  ar- 
rived at  the  grave,  when  an  oration  was  pronounced  in  honor 
of  the  deceased.  Scarcely  was  the  oration  concluded,  when, 
some  remains  of  life  having  been  discovered,  the  corpse  was 
taken  up.  The  inscription  on  the  lid  of  the  coffin  was  imme- 
diately altered  to  l  LIBERTY  REVIVED  ; '  the  bells  suddenly 
struck  a  cheerful  sound,  and  joy  appeared  again  in  every 
countenance."  1 

Throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  country 
the  stamp  distributers  were  execrated,  threatened,  com- 
pelled to  resign,  and  in  every  way  made  to  feel  the 
determination  of  the  people  not  to  tolerate  the  obnox- 
ious Act.  And  when,  after  struggling  in  vain  for  a 
year  to  enforce  the  Act,  Parliament  repealed  it,  in 
March,  1766,  the  joy  of  the  colonies  was  expressed 
as  tumultuously  as  their  indignation  had  been,  by  the 
ringing  of  bells,  and  by  illuminations,  festivals,  and 
processions  suited  to  the  occasion.  The  anniversary 

1  Holmes's  Annals,  Vol.  II.  p.  273. 


50  MEMOIROF 

of  this  repeal  was  observed,  it  will  be  remembered,  by 
the  students  at  Cambridge,  in  1769,  three  years  after- 
wards, recalling  to  every  mind,  not  only  the  Act  itself,  but 
the  spirit  with  which  it  had  been  successfully  resisted. 

The  revolutionary  impulses  received  while  in  Col- 
lege merely,  surrounded  by  ardent  spirits  like  himself, 
might  have  died  out  of  Mr.  Phillips's  heart  when  he 
went  forth  into  the  world,  had  they  not  been  grafted 
upon  these  anterior  and  life-long  excitements,  in  the 
same  direction ;  —  had  not  the  calm,  intelligent  patriot- 
ism of  principle  been  a  part  of  his  mental  growth,  as 
really  as  his  ideas  of  virtue,  or  his  estimate  of  time. 

But  when  we  trace  this  long  and  varied  process, 
which  had  so  well  served  to  exercise  his  mind  upon 
the  great  questions  at  issue,  and  when  we  consider  that 
every  month  after  he  graduated  was  filling  the  coun- 
try with  increasing  alarm,  it  no  longer  seems  surpris- 
ing that  all  plans  for  a  professional  career,  if  any  had 
been  matured,  were  at  once  abandoned.  Indeed,  it  is 
very  remarkable  that  he  should,  through  all  these  dis- 
turbances, have  been  such  a  model  as  he  was  of  suc- 
cessful application  to  study ;  clearly  showing  that  no 
reasons  but  such  as  he  deemed  the  most  imperative, 
would  have  led  him  to  relinquish  so  congenial  a  life. 
Yet  in  the  question  between  study  and  action,  equally 
fitted  as  he  was  for  either,  the  scholar  yielded  to  the 
patriot,;  and  he  threw  himself  with  the  utmost  ardor 
into  the  Eevolutionary  struggle.  "  I  never  saw  him," 


JUDGEPHILLIPS.  51 

says  one  who  knew  him  well,  "I  never  saw  him  so 
much  interested  in  any  thing  else,  as  he  was  in  the 
Revolution,  unless  it  was  the  Academy." 

He  had  been  out  of  College  less  than  two  years, 
when  in  the  spring  of  1773  —  three  months  before  his 
marriage  —  his  fellow-citizens  elected  him  town  clerk 
and  treasurer,  in  place  of  his  father,  who  had  filled 
these  offices  in  the  town  continuously  for  fourteen 
years  previous.  At  this  period,  as  the  records  amply 
witness,  every  thing  else  in  the  frequent  town  meetings 
of  Andover  was  secondary  to  its  spirited  action  upon 
the  state  of  the  country.  As  early  as  October  21, 1765, 
the  year  of  the  Stamp-Act,  the  town  had  by  a  unan- 
imous vote  addressed  the  following  "instructions"  to 
their  Representative,  the  elder  Mr.  Phillips :  — 

[To  Samuel  Phillips,  Esq.,  Representative  for  the  town  of  Andover  in  his 
Majesty's  province  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay.] 

"  SIR,  —  We,  the  freeholders  and  other  inhabitants  of  said 
town,  legally  assembled  in  town  meeting  on  said  day,  to 
consider  what  may  be  proper  on  our  part  to  be  done  at  this 
critical  conjuncture,  being  a  time,  we  apprehend,  that  we  and 
the  rest  of  his  majesty's  subjects  of  this  province,  as  well  as 
those  of  the  other  provinces  and  colonies  in  British  America, 
are  by  sundry  acts  of  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  especially 
by  an  act  commonly  called  the  Stamp- Act,  in  danger  of 
being  not  only  reduced  to  such  indigent  circumstances  as 
will  render  us  unable  to  manifest  our  loyalty  to  the  Crown 
of  Great  Britain,  as  upon  all  occasions  we  have  hitherto 
done,  by  cheerfully  exhibiting  our  substance  for  the  defence 


52  MEMOIR    OF 

of  the  British  dominions  in  this  part  of  the  world,  but  of 
being  deprived  of  some  of  our  most  valuable  privileges  which 
by  charter  and  loyalty  we  have  always  thought,  and  still 
think,  ourselves  justly  entitled  to  ; 

"  Therefore,  we  take  it  to  be  a  duty  justly  due  to  ourselves 
and  posterity  to  instruct  you,  that  you  do  not  give  your  as- 
sent to  any  act  of  Assembly  that  shall  signify  any  willing- 
ness in  your  constituents  to  submit  to  any  internal  taxes  that 
are  under  any  color  imposed,  otherwise  than  by  the  General 
Court  of  this  province,  agreeable  to  the  Constitution  of  this 
government ;  that  you  join  in  such  dutiful  remonstrances 
to  the  King  and  Parliament,  and  other  becoming  measures, 
as  shall  carry  the  greatest  probability  to  obtain  a  repeal  of 
the  Stamp- Act,  and  an  alleviation  of  the  embarrassments 
the  commercial  affairs  of  this  province  labor  under  by  the 
rigorous  execution  of  the  acts  of  Parliament  respecting  the 
same ;  and  we  also  desire  you  to  use  your  utmost  endeavors 
that  all  extraordinary  grants  and  expensive  measures  may 
upon  all  occasions,  as  much  as  possible,  be  avoided ;  and  we 
would  recommend,  particularly,  the  strictest  care  and  the  ut- 
most firmness  to  prevent  all  unconstitutional  draughts  upon 
the  public  treasury  ;  that  you  would  use  your  best  endeavors, 
in  conjunction  with  the  other  members  of  the  General  Court, 
to  suppress  all  riotous  unlawful  assemblies,  and  to  prevent 
all  unlawful  acts  of  violence  upon  the  persons  and  substance 
of  his  majesty's  subjects  in  this  province." 

In  May,  1768,  Mr.  Phillips,  senior,  as  chairman  of  a 
committee  appointed  by  the  town,  had  presented  a 
report,  which  was  adopted  unanimously,  in  these 
words :  — 


JUDGE     PHILLIPS.  53 

"  In  order  to  securing  to  ourselves  and  transmitting  to  pos- 
terity those  invaluable  rights  and  privileges  both  civil  and 
religious,  which  have  been  dearly  purchased  by  our  predeces- 
sors, the  first  settlers  of  this  country,  the  loss  of  which  is 
greatly  threatened  by  the  great  and  growing  imprudences 
and  immoralities  among  us,  the  committee  are  humbly  of 
opinion,  that  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  the  inhabitants 
of  this  town  use  their  utmost  endeavors,  and  that  they  en- 
force their  endeavors  by  their  example,  for  the  suppressing  of 
extravagance,  idleness,  and  vice,  and  for  the  promoting  of  in- 
dustry, economy,  and  good  morals ;  and  by  all  prudent  means 
endeavor  to  discountenance  the  importation  and  use  of  foreign 
superfluities,  and  to  promote  and  encourage  manufactures 
in  the  town."  1 

1  It  is  exceedingly  interesting  to  notice  how  much  prominence  is 
given  at  this  crisis,  not  only  in  the  action  of  this  town,  but  of  various 
other  bodies  in  the  country,  to  this  important  point  in  political  econ- 
omy ;  nor  were  these  views  of  self-support  in  so  important  a  respect, 
the  fruit  of  revolutionary  tendencies  merely.  They  had  prevailed 
to  a  very  considerable  extent,  twenty  years  earlier,  the  development 
of  its  internal  resources  being  regarded  of  great  moment  to  the  pros- 
perity and  thrift  of  the  country  then,  as  it  now  was  to  its  independ- 
ence. Among  the  illustrations  of  this  fact,  which  we  have  collected, 
we  give  the  following.  In  1753,  "the  anniversary  of  a  society  in 
Boston  for  encouraging  industry  and  employing  the  poor,  was  cele- 
brated with  extraordinary  attention.  In  the  afternoon,  about  three 
hundred  young  female  spinsters,  decently  dressed,  appeared  on  the 
Common  at  their  spinning-wheels.  The  wheels  were  placed  regu- 
larly in  three  rows,  and  a  female  was  seated  at  each  wheel.  The 
weavers  also  appeared,  cleanly  dressed,  in  garments  of  their  own 
weaving.  One  of  them,  working  at  a  loom  on  a  stage,  was  carried 

5* 


54  MEMOIR    OF 

Two  years  later,  May  21,  1770,  we  find  the  follow- 
ing record :  — 

"  The  town,  taking  into  consideration  the  distresses  this 
province  is  laboring  under  by  the  operation  of  a  late  Act  of 
Parliament  imposing  duties  on  tea,  paper,  glass,  etc.,  made 
and  passed  for  the  express  purpose  of  raising  a  revenue  in 
the  American  colonies  without  their  consent,  which  Act  we 
apprehend  is  oppressive ;  repugnant  to  the  natural  and  con- 
stitutional rights  of  the  people ;  contrary  both  to  the  spirit 
and  letter  of  the  royal  charter,  granted  by  their  majesties 
King  William  and  Queen  Mary  to  the  inhabitants  of  this 
province,  whereby  are  ordained  and  established  the  having 
and  enjoying  all  liberties  and  immunities  of  free  and  natural 
born  subjects ;  and  subversive  of  the  great  and  good  designs 
of  our  most  worthy  ancestors,  who  crossed  the  ocean,  wil- 
lingly exposed  themselves  to  every  danger,  parted  with  their 
blood  and  treasure,  suffered  hunger,  cold,  and  nakedness,  and 
every  other  hardship  human  nature  is  capable  of,  to  purchase 
and  defend  a  quiet  habitation  for  themselves  and  posterity : 

"  Therefore,  Voted,  nemine  contradicente ;  1.  That  it  is  the 
duty  of  every  friend  to  liberty  and  to  the  British  constitu- 
tion to  use  all  legal  measures  to  prevent,  if  possible,  the  ex- 

on  men's  shoulders,  attended  with  music.     An  immense  number  of 
spectators  was  present  at  this  interesting  spectacle." 

"  Rev.  Dr.  Cooper  preached  a  discourse,  and  a  collection  was 
made  for  the  benefit  of  the  institution.  A  manufactory  house,  a  large 
and  handsome  brick  building,  was  erected  about  this  time  on  Long- 
acre  street ;  and  an  excise,  laid  by  the  General  Court  on  carriages 
and  other  articles  of  luxury,  was  appropriated  to  it."  —  Holmes' s 
Annals,  Vol.  II.  p.  196. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  55 

ecution  of  said  act ;  and  would  embrace  this  opportunity  to 
express  our  warmest  gratitude  to  the  merchants  and  other 
gentlemen  of  Boston  and  other  trading  towns  in  this  prov- 
ince, for  the  regular,  constitutional,  and  spirited  measures 
pursued  by  them,  from  principles  truly  noble  and  generous, 
for  repelling  tyranny  and  oppression,  and  establishing  those 
rights  for  themselves  and  country  which  they  are  entitled  to 
as  men  and  as  Englishmen. 

"  2.  That  we  will  by  all  legal  and  constitutional  measures 
in  our  power,  support  and  encourage  the  non-importation 
agreement  of  the  merchants ;  and  that  we  will  have  no  com- 
mercial or  social  connections  directly  or  indirectly  with  those 
persons,  who,  as  enemies  to  the  country,  divested  of  every 
public  virtue,  and  even  of  humanity  itself,  regardless  of,  and 
deaf  to,  the  miseries  and  calamities  which  threaten  this  peo- 
ple, preferring  their  own  private  interest  to  the  liberty  and 
freedom  of  the  community,  are  sordidly  endeavoring  to  coun- 
teract such  benevolent  and  salutary  agreement. 

"3.  That  we  will  encourage  frugality,  industry,  and  the 
manufactures  of  this  country ;  and  that  we  will  not  make 
use  of  any  foreign  tea,  or  suffer  it  to  be  used  in  our  families 
(cases  of  sickness  only  excepted)  until  the  Act  imposing  a 
duty  on  that  article  shall  be  repealed,  and  a  general  importa- 
tion take  place." 

Such  was  the  spirit  of  the  town,  when  Mr.  Phillips, 
Jr.,  began  to  take  part  in  its  deliberations,  and  to  bear 
its  offices;  and  here,  with  his  honored  father,  he  at 
once  became  conspicuous.  Early  in  the  year  1774,  he 
was  appointed,  in  town  meeting,  at  the  head  of  a  com- 


56  MEMOIR    OF 

mittee  to  draft  a  series  of  resolutions  expressive  of  the 
temper  of  the  times ;  his  report  embodied,  with  slight 
modifications,  the  resolves  which  had  then  recently 
been  passed  at  Philadelphia,  as  a  declaration  of  princi- 
ples, and  added  the  following  for  practice  :  — 

"  Resolved,  That  no  person  in  this  town,  who  has  hereto- 
fore been  concerned  in  vending  tea,  or  any  other  person,  may 
on  any  pretence  whatever,  either  sell  himself  or  be  in  any 
way  accessory  to  selling  any  tea  of  foreign  importation,  while 
it  remains  burdened  with  a  duty,  under  penalty  of  incurring 
the  town's  displeasure." 

At  a  subsequent  meeting  in  June,  he  was  one  of  a 
committee  to  report  a  covenant  to  be  signed  by  the 
citizens,  and  on  its  adoption,  was  upon  the  committee 
to  see  that  it  was  strictly  enforced. 

In  December,  his  father,  as  chairman  of  a  similar 
committee  upon  the  resolves  of  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress, made  a  report  to  the  town,  which  there  is  reason 
to  believe  the  son  had  assisted  in  carefully  drafting, 
from  which  we  quote  the  foUowing  words :  — 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  indispensable  duty  of  this  town 
strictly  to  conform  and  firmly  adhere  to  the  Association  of 
the  Grand  American  Continental  Congress,  and  to  the  re- 
solve of  the  Provincial  Congress  of  the  fifth  of  December, 
thereto  relating ;  and,  in  order  that  this  may  be  thoroughly 
effected,  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  town,  of  the  age  of 
twenty-one  years  and  upwards,  subscribe  the  following  agree- 
ment, namely :  We,  the  subscribers,  having  attentively  con- 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  57 

sidered  the  Association  of  the  Grand  American  Continental 
Congress,  respecting  the  non-importation,  non-exportation, 
and  non-consumption  of  goods,  etc.,  signed  by  the  delegates 
of  this  and  the  other  colonies  on  the  continent,  and  the  re- 
solve of  the  Provincial  Congress  of  the  fifth  of  December 
thereto  relating,  do  heartily  approve  the  same,  and  every  part 
of  them ;  and  in  order  to  make  said  association  and  resolve 
our  own  personal  act,  Do  by  these  presents,  under  the  sacred 
ties  of  virtue,  honor,  and  love  of  our  country,  firmly  agree 
and  associate  fully  and  completely  to  observe  and  keep  all 
and  every  article  and  clause  in  said  association  and  resolve 
contained,  according  to  the  true  intent,  meaning,  and  letter 
thereof,  and  will  duly  inform  and  give  notice  of  every  eva- 
sion, or  contravention  of  either,  as  far  as  we  are  able  ;  and 
we  further  covenant,  that  if  any  person  or  persons,  of  the  age 
of  twenty-one  years  and  upwards,  shall  neglect  or  refuse  to 
subscribe  this  agreement  when  tendered  to  him  or  them,  we 
will  withdraw  all  commerce,  trade,  or  dealing  from  such,  so 
long  as  they  shall  continue  thus  inimical  to  the  public  good, 
and  that  their  names  shall  be  entered  on  the  records  of  this 
town,  and  published  in  the  Essex  Gazette  as  enemies  to  their 
country." 

Upon  the  adoption  of  this  report,  —  which  made 
Andover  a  community  of  "  Covenanters/'  —  Mr.  Phil- 
lips, senior,  was  made  chairman  of  a  large  Committee 
of  Safety,  charged  with  the  duty  of  executing  the  meas- 
ure proposed ;  while  the  record  of  all  these  doings  was 
kept  by  his  son,  who,  in  these  and  many  kindred 
movements,  was  not  less  active.  That  oft  summoned 


58  MEMOIROF 

town  meeting  w  as  a  noble  spectacle ;  ;i  determined 
assembly  of  sturdy  freemen,  who  knew  their  rights 
so  well,  voting  again  and  again  without  one  dissenting 
voice,  while  the  young  scholar,  just  from  his  college 
groves,  was  their  clerk,  and  his  tried  father  their  mod- 
erator, —  for  during  this  entire  period,  the  elder  Mr. 
Phillips  was  almost  invariably  called  to  the  chair, — 
both  helping  to  clothe  all  their  resolute  doings  in  the 
convincing  words  of  truth  and  soberness. 

It  was  thus  that  the  town,  when  the  war  at  last 
broke  out,  directed  a  portion  of  its  militia  to  enlist  in 
the  army,  at  the  same  time  voting  their  pay  and  sup- 
plies; established  its  night-watch  as  a  precaution  against 
lires,  and  the  regulars,  upon  which  all  the  citi/ens  from 
sixteen  to  sixty  years  of  age  were  liable  to  serve  at 
forty-eight  hours'  notice ;  organized,  in  addition  to  the 
Committee  of  Safety,  its  Committees  of  Correspondence 
and  of  Inspection;  engaged  to  supply  the  families  of 
those  who  were  serving  in  the  army  with  the  necessa- 
ries of  life ;  and  took  measures  to  forestall  disturb- 
ances of  the  peace,  and  to  enforce  the  laws  among 
such  as  seemed  inclined  to  be  lawless.  Nor  did  these 
citizens  hesitate  when  the  progress  of  the  war  had 
brought  on  the  issue  of  separation  from  the  mother 
country. 

At  a  meeting  June  12,  177i>.  tlnvc  weeks  before  the 
ever  memorable  4th  of  July,  the  records  inform  us 
that>  — 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  i)l) 

"  The  question  being  put,  whether  should  the  Honorable 
Congress,  for  the  safety  of  the  colonies,  declare  them  inde- 
pendent of  the  kingdom  of  Great  Britain,  you  will  solemnly 
engage  with  your  lives  and  fortunes  to  support  them  in  the 
measure,  —  it  passed  in  the  affirmative,  unanimously"  1 

1  All  of  these  resolves  of  the  citizens  of  Andover  in  the  great  con- 
test, wen-  amply  seconded  by  both  means  and  men  devoted  to  the 
war.  In  February,  two  companies  were  raised  under  the  command 
ofCapt.  r><Mijamin  Farnhain,  and  Capt.  Benjamin  Ames.  —  "  On  the 
19th  of  April,  1775,  the  alarm  drew  these  companies  into  the  field, 
and  they  were  stationed  at  Cambridge.  They  were  detached  to  take 
possession  of  the  heights  of  Charlestown  on  the  1 6th  of  June,  and 
were  in  the  buttle  of  the  next  day.  There  were  fifty-eight  belonging 
to  Capt.  Ames's  company,  more  than  fifty  of  whom,  belonging  to  the 
South  Parish,  were  in  the*  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  Three  were  killed 
and  seven  wounded.  Two  in  another  company,  under  command  of 
Capt.  Furbush,  were  killed.  Capt.  Farnham  was  wounded,  and  some 
of  his  company."  "  The  day  following  the  battle,  the  Lord's  day," 
says  Rev.  Mr.  French,  "  onr  houses  of  worship  were  generally  shut 
up.  It  was  the  case  here.  When  the  news  of  the  battle  reached 
us,  the  anxiety  and  distress  of  wives  and  children,  of  parents,  of 
brothers,  sisters,  and  friends,  were  great.  It  was  not  known  who 
were  among  the  slaiij  or  the  living,  the  wounded  or  the  well.  It  was 
thought  justifiable  for  us,  who  could,  to  repair  to  the  camp,  to  know 
the  circumstances,  to  join  in  the  defence  of  the  country,  and  prevent 
the  enemy  from  pushing  the  advantages  they  had  gained;  and  to 
afford  comfort  and  relief  to  our  suffering  brethren  and  friends."  In 
the  siege  of  Boston  following  this,  another  company  of  more  than 
fifty  men,  under  Capt.  Lovejoy,  served,  being  stationed,  at  different 
times,  on  Prospect  Hill,  at  Cambridge,  and  at  Roxbury.  —  See  Abbot's 
History  of  Andover,  p.  174,  175,  etc. 


60  MEMOIR     OF 

It  was  to  represent  such  a  town,  in  this  critical  era, 
that  our  Mr.  Phillips,  the  younger,  was  elected,  with 
great  unanimity,  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  which 
met  at  Watertown  in  1775,  at  the  age  of  only  twenty- 
three  years !  Whether  this  reflects  most  honor  upon 
him  or  upon  his  fellow-citizens,  we  need  not  inquire. 
They  certainly  were  not  men  to  be  blinded  by  the 
young  patriot's  ardor  in  the  cause  merely.  It  required 
something  besides  zeal  for  liberty  to  speak  and  act  for 
them  in  that  assembly ;  yet  without  this  enthusiasm 
in  the  contest,  neither  he  nor  any  other  deputy  could 
have  truly  represented  them.  Young  as  he  was,  and 
the  more  because  of  his  youth,  this  election  intimates 
to  us  their  confidence  in  his  judgment,  his  probity,  and 
his  firmness,  not  less  than  in  his  courage  and  devotion. 

The  Congress  to  which  he  was  thus  sent,  convened 
in  sight  of  his  venerable  ancestor's  grave,  was  near 
the  head-quarters  of  the  army  at  Cambridge,1  acting 

1  The  very  aspect  of  Cambridge  and  its  vicinity  at  this  time,  must 
have  added  to  the  zeal  of  the  patriot  scholar :  "  Thousands,"  writes 
Rev.  Mr.  Emerson,  a  chaplain  in  the  army,  "  are  at  work  every  day, 
from  four  till  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning.  It  is  surprising  how 
much  work  has  been  done.  The  lines  are  extended  almost  from 
Cambridge  to  Mystic  River,  so  that  very  soon  it  will  be  morally  im- 
possible for  the  enemy  to  get  between  the  works,  except  in  one  place, 
which  is  supposed  to  be  left  purposely  unfortified,  to  entice  the  ene- 
my out  of  their  fortresses.  Who  would  have  thought,  twelve  months 
past,  that  all  Cambridge  and  Charlestown  would  be  covered  over 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  61 

in  daily  concert  with  it,  and  animated  by  its  spirit. 
There  was  no  longer  a  "  Great  and  General  Court " 
elected  in  the  king's  name,  and  legislating  under  the 
eye  of  the  king's  governor ;  but  in  its  place  this  Revo- 
lutionary Legislature,  in  which,  beyond  all  other  sub- 
jects, the  Revolution  itself  was  the  great  theme.  Gen- 
eral Warren  said  of  a  similar  body  in  November,  1774. 

"  About  two  hundred  and  sixty  members  were  present. 
You  would  have  thought  yourself  in  an  assembly  of  Spar- 
tans or  ancient  Romans,  had  you  been  a  witness  to  the  ardor 
which  inspired  those  who  spoke  upon  the  important  business 
they  were  transacting."  l 

In  this  and  each  succeeding  legislature  during  the 
war  to  which  Mr.  Phillips  was  elected,  he  took  a  very 
active  part.  He  soon  came  to  be  regarded  as  one  of 
the  best  speakers  in  the  House,  and  to  the  various 
important  measures  proposed  in  aid  of  the  common 
cause,  he  brought  the  most  effective  support.  For 
mere  rhetorical  declamation,  he  had  no  aptness  and 
no  taste.  His  was  the  practical  and  solid  oratory 

with  American  camps,  and  cut  up  into  forts  and  intrenchments,  and 
all  the  lands,  fields,  orchards,  laid  common,  —  horses  and  cattle  feed- 
ing on  the  choicest  mowing  land,  whole  fields  of  corn  eaten  down  to 
the  ground,  and  large  parks  of  well-regulated  locusts  cut  down  for 
firewood  and  other  public  uses  ? "  —  Frothingham' s  History  of  the 
Siege  of  Boston,  p.  221. 

1  Frothingham's  History  of  the  Siege  of  Boston,  p.  42. 

6 


62  MEMOIROF 

of  a  cairn,  far-seeing  mind,  deeply  moved,  yet  never 
swayed  by  simple  emotion.  Knapp,  in  his  fiction  of 
"  Marshal  Soult's  Journal,"  says  of  him  in  this  respect, 
"he  was  in  the  first  grade  of  eminence;  his  speeches 
were  clear,  concise,  logical,  direct,  and  nervous;  but 
he  made  no  effort  to  amuse  the  fancy,  and  never 
sacrificed  any  thing  to  mere  rhetoric." 1 

And  the  qualities  which  made  him  so  convincing  in 
debate,  gave  a  corresponding  weight  to  his  suggestions, 
and  his  action,  on  the  various  important  committees  of 
the  House  upon  which  he  was  placed.  In  whatever 
pertained  to  the  war,  or  to  the  important  questions  of 
state  connected  with  the  war,  a  large  amount  of  this 
committee  service  was  assigned  to  him  year  after  year ; 
and  in  it  all  he  distinguished  himself,  not  only  by  his 
zeal,  but  by  his  sagacity  and  despatch,  and  by  his  un- 
tiring industry.  It  is  seldom  that  such  capacity  for 
the  dry  minutiae  of  business  is  united  with  such  ability 
in  persuasive  speaking  in  our  legislative  halls. 

We  have  taken  pains  to  examine  the  journals  of 
these  successive  legislatures  with  some  care,  to  obtain 
a  view  of  Mr.  Phillips's  labors,  and  have  been  surprised 
at  the  number  and  variety  of  his  committee  services. 
The  Provincial  Congress  at  Watertown,  assembled  in 
the  meeting-house  July  19,  1775.  The  proscribed 
patriots,  Samuel  Adams  and  John  Hancock,  were  both 

1  Pages  103,  104. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  63 

members,  and  with  them  many  others  who  had  already 
distinguished  themselves  in  the  great  contest.  This 
memorable  Congress  held  four  protracted  sessions  be- 
fore it  was  finally  dissolved  on  the  10th  of  May,  1776. 
During  this  period,  Mr.  Phillips  was  twice  on  a  com- 
mittee to  confer  with  General  Washington  upon  points 
connected  with  the  war ;  he  was  also  in  rapid  succes- 
sion upon  committees  to  countersign  the  colony  notes 
emitted  by  the  Continental  Congress,  and  the  notes 
of  the  Receiver-General ;  to  direct  the  mustering  and 
paying  of  one  militia  company,  and  to  muster  and 
pay  another;  to  procure  a  suitable  person  to  attend 
the  Muster-Master-General,  and  obtain  a  return  of  the 
Massachusetts  forces ;  to  superintend  the  delivery  of 
powder  to  the  several  towns,  and  to  the  Commissary- 
General  ;  to  view  the  defences  of  Boston  harbor,  and 
report  their  condition,  etc. 

In  subsequent  legislatures,  he  was  appointed  on  com- 
mittees, upon  the  petition  of  certain  persons  taken 
by  one  of  the  cruisers;  to  bring  in  a  bill  to  punish 
deserters ;  to  see  what  should  be  done  with  men  "  who 
enlist  or  are  drafted  into  the  army,  but  have  not 
marched ; "  to  report  upon  the  remonstrances  of  a 
large  number  of  towns  against  Bills  of  Credit,  and  to 
revise  the  Address  of  the  House  to  the  inhabitants 
of  the  State,  setting  forth  the  reasons  for  the  Act  for 
calling  in  these  bills ;  to  confer  with  the  Faculty  of 
Harvard  College  respecting  grants  to  the  officers ;  to 
consider  a  Resolution  of  Congress  respecting  the  ad- 


64  MEMOIROF 

ministration  of  justice  ;  to  bring  in  a  bill  for  encourag- 
ing the  manufacture  of  steel ;  to  draft  a  letter  to  Con- 
gress upon  the  subject  of  the  embargo,  etc.  In  many 
of  these  appointments,  he  was  made  chairman  of  the 
committee  raised  ;  in  numerous  instances  the  persons 
appointed  by  the  House  were  a  joint  committee,  with 
such  as  the  honorable  Council  might  designate  to 
the  same  duty.  All  of  these  legislatures,  like  the 
Congress  at  Watertown,  held  repeated  sessions,  usually 
three  or  four,  varying  from  one  to  two  and  some- 
times three  months  in  length,  relieved  by  intervals 
of  adjournment. 

But  while  exerting'  himself  thus  in  the  legislature 
for  the  liberties  of  his  country,  his  interest  in  the 
Revolution  stimulated  him  to  serve  the  cause  in 
other  modes.  There  were  junctures  when  he  made 
efforts  to  procure  loans  from  his  friends  for  the 
government,  becoming  himself,  to  the  extent  of  his 
ability,  not  only  the  negotiator,  but  the  surety,  with 
the  parties.  His  daily  conversation,  too,  with  all 
classes,  and  in  all  circles,  was  perpetually  touching  upon 
the  great  theme,  eliciting,  by  well-timed  questions,  the 
views  of  others,  and  breathing  out  the  convictions  of 
his  own  full  heart.  He  is  remembered  to  this  day  by 
some,  with  remarkable  distinctness  in  this  respect,  as 
conversing  everywhere  upon  the  war,  full  of  questions 
and  of  comments,  both  in  a  style  peculiar  to  himself. 
And  his  deeds  were  in  unison  with  his  words. 

In   the   winter   of  1775-76,  while   serving   in   the 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  65 

Congress  at  Watertown,  and  intent  still  upon  practi- 
cally aiding  in  the  struggle,  he  erected,  at  great  ex- 
pense, a  powder-mill,  commencing  and  prosecuting  the 
enterprise  in  a  manner  most  characteristic  of  himself. 

The  exigency  which  prompted  him  to  this  enter- 
prise was  great.  By  a  proclamation  of  the  king,  the 
year  prior  to  the  rupture  with  the  Colonies,  the  ex- 
portation of  all  military  stores  from  Great  Britain  had 
been  prohibited  ; *  and  early  in  the  contest,  the  efforts 
of  the  British  troops  had  been  specially  directed  to 
the  seizure  or  destruction  of  all  kinds  of  ordnance 
and  ammunition.  For  this  purpose,  a  detachment  had 
marched  to  Salem  and  Danvers  in  February,  1775 ; 2 
and  this  was  the  chief  object  of  the  expedition  to  Con- 
cord, which  brought  on  the  battle  at  Lexington  on  the 
19th  of  April.  The  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  might  have 
been  still  more  disastrous  to  the  British,  had  not  the 
Americans  been  compelled  to  retreat  in  the  very  hot- 
test of  the  conflict  for  want  of  cartridges.3  So  early 
did  the  scanty  supply  of  powder  especially  begin  to 
embarrass  the  patriot  forces. 

When  General  Washington  took  the  command  of  the 
army  on  the  3d  of  July  at  Cambridge,  his  first  care, 

1  Holmes's  Annals,  Vol.  II.  p.  316. 

2  Ibid.  p.  324.    See  also  Frothingham's  History  of  the  Siege  of 
Boston,  p.  48. 

8  Ibid.  p.  147,  148,  153. 

6* 


66  MEMOIR    OF 

after  a  rapid  survey  of  his  own  and  the  enemy's  works, 
was  to  ascertain  the  amount  of  the  various  military 
stores  at  his  service  for  the  campaign.  The  returns 
showed  that  more  than  three  hundred  barrels  of  pow- 
der had  been  collected  by  the  Province,  but  did  not 
state  how  much  had  been  expended.  Without  a  sus- 
picion of  any  important  deficiency,  therefore,  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  at  once  arranged  to  complete  the  in- 
vestment of  Boston,  and  press  the  siege  vigorously, 
hoping  before  winter  to  dislodge  or  capture  the  British, 
and  return  to  Virginia. 

On  the  issue  of  an  order,  however,  in  August,  for  a 
new  supply  of  cartridges,  the  startling  fact  came  to 
light,  that  there  were  not  more  than  about  thirty  bar- 
rels of  powder  in  the  whole  camp,  barely  enough  to 
furnish  nine  or  ten  rounds  to  each  man  !  Letters  were 
instantly  despatched  by  Washington  to  Ehode  Island, 
the  Jerseys,  Ticonderoga,  and  elsewhere,  urging  imme- 
diate supplies  of  both  powder  and  lead ;  he  suggested, 
also,  the  expedient  of  fitting  out  an  armed  vessel  to 
sieze  if  possible  upon  a  magazine  in  Bermuda ;  and 
for  a  fortnight  the  army  remained  in  this  critical  state, 
apprehending  an  attack  every  hour,  when  at  length 
a  partial  supply  was  received  from  the  Jerseys ;  but 
even  with  this,  there  was  not  ammunition  enough  to 
serve  for  more  than  a  single  day  in  a  general  action.1 

1  Irving's  Life  of  Washington,  Vol.  II.  p.  25-27 ;  also  Frothing- 
ham's  History  of  the  Siege  of  Boston,  p.  232,  233,  255. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  67 

Even  as  late  as  December,  after  every  effort  to  increase 
the  stores,  Washington  spoke  of  the  stock  as  "fearfully 
small ; " l  and  in  January,  General  Putnam,  who  had 
just  constructed  a  new  battery  on  Lechmere  Point, 
was  still  roughly  praying  for  powder.  "  The  bay  is 
open,"  writes  Colonel  Moylan,  in  allusion  to  the  mild- 
ness of  the  season,  "  every  thing  thaws  here  except 
Old  Put.  He  is  still  hard  as  ever,  crying  out  for 
powder  —  powder  —  powder,  —  Ye  Gods,  give  us  pow- 
der ! " 2  Yet  with  this  appalling  defect,  month  after 
month,  to  check  him,  Washington  began  to  be  thought 
too  cautious  in  his  movements.  "  Why  does  he  not 
bombard  the  town  and  drive  the  enemy  out  ? "  it 
was  asked.  "  Why  is  the  army  kept  fortifying  or 
parading  and  not  fighting  ?  " 

The  General-in-Chief  was  himself  mortified  and 
chafed  beyond  measure  by  this  necessity  for  apparent 
inaction,  when  some  great  and  decisive  blow  was  ex- 
pected, and  when,  to  explain  the  real  cause,  would  be 
to  insure  disaster.  January  14th,  he  wrote  :  — 

"  Few  people  know  the  predicament  we  are  in,  on  a  thou- 
sand accounts ;  fewer  still  will  believe,  if  any  disaster  hap- 
pens to  these  lines,  from  what  cause  it  flows.  I  have  often 
thought  how  much  happier  I  should  have  been  if,  instead  of 
accepting  of  a  command  under  such  circumstances,  I  had 


1  Irving's  Life  of  Washington,  Vol.  II.  p.  35. 
3  Ibid.  p.  117. 


68  MEMOIR    OF 

taken  my  musket  upon  my  shoulder,  and  entered  the  ranks  ; 
or,  if  I  could  have  justified  the  measure  to  posterity  and  my 
own  conscience,  had  retired  to  the  back  country,  and  lived 
in  a  wigwam. 

"  If  I  shall  be  able  to  rise  superior  to  these,  and  many 
other  difficulties  which  might  be  enumerated,  I  shall  most 
religiously  believe  that  the  finger  of  Providence  is  in  it." 

On  the  9th  of  February,  he  stated  :  — 

"  That  two  thousand  of  his  men  were  without  firelocks, 
and  that  he  was  obliged  to  conceal  the  state  of  his  army 
even  from  his  own  officers." 

On  the  10th?  he  wrote  :  — 

"  I  know  that  much  is  expected  of  me.  I  know  that  with- 
out men,  without  arms,  without  ammunition,  without  any 
thing  fit  for  the  accommodation  of  a  soldier,  little  is  to  be 
done." 

February  18th?  he  again  wrote  :  — 

"  To  have  the  eyes  of  a  whole  continent  fixed  with  anx- 
ious expectation  of  hearing  some  great  event,  and  to  be  re- 
strained in  every  military  operation  for  want  of  the  neces- 
sary means  to  carry  it  on,  is  not  very  pleasing ;  especially  as 
the  means  used  to  conceal  my  weakness  from  the  enemy, 
conceal  it  also  from  our  friends,  and  add  to  their  wonder."  1 

He  waited,  therefore,  in  hope ;  but  it  was  hope  de- 
ferred ;  and  it  was  not  until  March,  1776,  eight  months 

1  Frothingham's  History  of  the  Siege  of  Boston,  p.  286,  290,  292. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  69 

after  his  arrival  at  Cambridge,  that  he  felt  justified  in 
acting  more  summarily.  On  the  night  of  the  2d,  3d, 
and  especially  the  4th  of  that  month,  the  town  was 
bombarded  in  good  earnest,  mainly  with  a  view  of 
covering  his  occupancy  of  Dorchester  Heights  that 
evening,  where,  as  on  Bunker  Hill  in  the  preceding 
June,  the  labor  of  a  night  threw  up  a  redoubt,  which 
the  next  morning  filled  the  enemy  with  amazement. 
That  evening,  Mrs.  John  Adams,  writing  of  the  cannon- 
ade to  her  husband,  said,  "  I  hope  to  give  you  joy  of 
Boston,  even  if  it  is  in  ruins,  before  I  send  this  away."  l 
A  few  days  now  sufficed  to  drive  the  British  to  their 
shipping.  Early  in  the  morning  of  Sunday  the  17th, 
they  evacuated  the  town ;  and  a  siege  which  might 
have  been  ended  in  eleven  weeks  as  well  as  in  eleven 
months,  had  there  been  no  want  of  ammunition,  ter- 
minated in  a  complete  triumph.2 

In  reverting  to  their  struggles  for  this  great  victory, 

1  Frothingham's  History  of  the  Siege  of  Boston,  p.  305,  306. 

2  Holmes's  Annals,  Vol.  II.  p.  348.     While  Washington  was  in  the 
midst  of  his  embarrassments  here,  Dr.  Franklin,   Mr.  Lynch,  and 
Colonel  Harrison  came  on  as  a  committee  from  Congress,  "  to  settle 
the  plan  for  continuing  and  supporting  the  army ;  "  and  Dr.  Frank- 
lin, who  had  recently  returned  from  Europe,  at  this  time  paid  over 
to   a   committee  of  the   Provincial   Congress  at  Watertown,  £100, 
which  had  been  sent  to  him,  as  a  charitable  donation  from  persons  in 
England,  for  the  relief  of  those  who  had  been  wounded  in  the  battle 
of  Lexington,  and  of  the  widows  and  orphans  of  those  who  had  been 
slain.  —  See  Sparks's  Washington,  Vol.  III.  p.  133,  134. 


TO  MEMOIR    OF 

Washington  writes  to  Congress :  "  It  is  not  in  the  pages 
of  history,  perhaps,  to  furnish  a  case  like  ours.  To 
maintain  a  post  within  musket  shot  of  the  enemy  for 
six  months  together  without  ammunition,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  disband  one  army  and  recruit  another  with- 
in that  distance  of  twenty  odd  British  regiments,  is 
more,  probably,  than  was  ever  attempted." l  The  army 
had  not  been  alone,  however,  in  efforts  to  meet  the 
exigency.  The  Congress  at  Watertown  exerted  itself 
strenuously  for  the  same  object.  At  first  all  the  towns 
in  the  Province,  where  powder  even  in  the  smallest 
quantity  was  stored,  were  called  upon  to  send  it  to  the 
Commissary  with  the  utmost  despatch ;  and  the  amount 
which  each  town  should  endeavor  to  send  in  was  speci- 
fied. Andover  was  to  send  fifty  pounds,  which  were 
promptly  forwarded  ;  so  Haverhill,  Danvers,  Rowley, 
were  to  send  fifty  pounds  each,  and  other  towns  in 
proportion. 

But  this  was  a  temporary  expedient;  something  must 
be  done  to  insure  a  more  permanent  supply.  On  the 
12th  of  December,  1775,  a  Resolve  was  therefore  passed 
for  the  erection  of  two  powder-mills,  one  in  Sutton, 
and  the  other  on  the  site  of  an  old  mill  in  Stoughton. 
On  the  23d,  however,  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
visit  Stoughton  and  Andover,  and  see  in  which  of  these 
towns  the  manufacture  could  best  be  commenced ;  and, 
on  the  3d  of  January,  Mr.  Phillips  made  a  proposal 

1  See  Appendix  F. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  71 

to  the  House,  to  erect  a  mill  in  Andover  with  their 
concurrence  and  cooperation.  A  Resolve  was  accord- 
ingly passed,  with  the  sanction  of  the  Council,  on  the 
9th,  encouraging  him  to  proceed  with  all  convenient 
despatch ;  engaging  to  supply  his  mill  for  a  year  with 
saltpetre  and  sulphur  for  the  manufacture,  and  to  pay 
him  a  bounty  of  eight  pence  per  pound  for  all  the  good 
powder  he  should  deliver  to  the  Commissary  ;  with  the 
express  stipulation  that  he  was  to  sell  only  to  the 
Government,  or  to  such  other  parties  as  they  should  ap- 
prove for  the  public  use ;  and  that  he  should  maintain 
a  night  guard  at  his  mill,  "  to  prevent  any  wicked  and 
designing  person  from  destroying  the  same."  On  the 
13th  of  February,  a  bounty  of  £50  was  offered  also 
by  the  Congress  to  the  person  who  should  first  erect 
a  powder-mill  capable  of  manufacturing  fifty  pounds 
per  day ;  and  £30  for  the  second  mill  of  the  same 
capacity.  The  mills  at  Stoughton  and  Andover  being 
already  begun,  were  not  included  in  this  offer. 

It  was  with  these  preliminaries  to  stimulate  him, 
and  under  the  influence  of  such  a  general  feeling  in 
the  body  to  which  he  belonged,  that  Mr.  Phillips,  who 
not  only  shared  in  the  feeling,  but  had  done  much  to 
increase  it,  hastened  home  in  January,  1776,  and  set 
on  foot  his  enterprise. 

1  See  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  1775. 


72  MEMOIR    OP 

Having  purchased  his  mill-seat,  where  a  canal  was 
needed  for  some  distance,  he  called  together  his  neigh- 
bors in  considerable  numbers,  and  spread  before  them 
the  project.  "  Now,"  said  he,  "  I  want  your  help,  and 
will  engage  to  pay  you,  if  the  business  pays ;  but  if  it 
fails,  you  must  consent  to  lose  your  labor ;  the  powder 
is  needed  for  the  common  cause,  and  we  must  work 
together."  At  once  his  appeal  was  responded  to  with 
enthusiasm,  and  in  that  inclement  season,  ground  was 
immediately  broken  by  the  spirited  citizens,  and  the 
mill-race  dug  as  a  volunteer  work ;  Mr.  Phillips  him- 
self, in  his  farmer's  frock,  working  from  morning  till 
night  with  the  company,  and  superintending  their 
labors.  It  has  been  said  that  this  was  the  first  pow- 
der-mill erected  in  the  country,  which  appears  to  be 
an  error,  as  the  mill  at  Stoughton  was  to  be  an  old  one 
repaired ;  but  certainly  this  was  a  most  timely  enter- 
prise; for  as  early  as  the  10th  of  May,  1776,  Mr. 
Phillips  began  to  deliver  from  his  mill  to  the  several 
towns  the  quotas  of  powder  which  they  had  furnished 
according  to  the  directions  of  the  Provincial  Congress ; 
and  in  the  summer  and  autumn,  large  supplies  were 
drawn  from  it  for  the  use  of  the  army,  and  of  the 
vessels  engaged  in  cruising. 

Mr.  Phillips,  as  we  have  stated,  had  entered  into  an 
arrangement  with  the  Government  of  the  Common- 
wealth, to  sell  powder  only  as  they  should  consent, 
and  for  the  public  service.  Accordingly,  we  find  an 


JUDGE     PHILLIPS.  73 

order  of  the  Council,  then  sitting  in  Watertown,  Au- 
gust 31,  1776,  permitting  the  sale  of  one  thousand  six 
hundred  pounds  to  three  several  parties  at  six  shillings 
per  pound,  the  Commissary-General  of  the  State  being 
responsible  for  the  payment ;  September  6th,  an  order 
for  one  thousand  five  hundred  pounds  more ;  Septem- 
ber 24th,  for  five  hundred  pounds ;  October  4th,  for 
four  tons ;  October  9th,  for  four  thousand  pounds,1  etc. 
From  the  amount  and  frequency  of  these  drafts,  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  mill  was  doing  a  great  work.  At  this 
time,  the  Hon.  William  Phillips  of  Boston  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Council,  and  his  son,  the  late  Lieutenant- 
Governor  William  Phillips,  was  part  owner  of  one  of 
the  schooners  which  drew  its  stores  of  powder  from 
this  manufactory  of  their  kinsman.  While  thus  sup- 
plying munitions  of  war,  Mr.  Phillips,  as  chairman  of 
a  committee  of  the  Legislature,  was  writing  to  the 
towns  in  the  vicinity,  to  send  in  their  supplies  of  wood 
and  other  necessaries  to  the  army.2  A  letter  of  his  to 
the  selectmen  of  Concord  is  preserved,  in  which  he 
states  that  they  are  recommended  by  the  Legislature 
to  send  three  cords  of  wood  daily,  and  urges  the  im- 
portance of  their  doing  it  promptly. 

Before  the  close  of  this  year,  powder-mills  had  been 
built,  partly  with  the  aid  of  the  State,  at  Stoughton, 


1  American  Archives,  5th  Series,  Vols.  II.  and  III. 

2  Frothingham's  History  of  the  Siege  of  Boston,  p.  275. 

7 


74  MEMOIR    OF 

at  Sutton,  and  at  Springfield ;  but  for  a  considerable 
period  the  mill  at  Andover  was  the  leading  manufac- 
tory. Before  it  had  been  half  a  year  in  operation  a 
Kesolve  was  passed  in  the  Legislature,  to  pay  Mr. 
Phillips  <£2,800  to  meet  his  purchases  of  saltpetre 
merely.1  The  scarcity  of  this  article  was  his  prin- 
cipal difficulty  in  the  enterprise ;  and  at  first,  in  the 
urgency  of  the  demand,  floors  were,  in  many  cases, 
taken  up  from  kitchens  and  sheds  in  the  vicinity,  to 
obtain  the  earth  beneath,  and  extract  the  saltpetre 
which  it  contained.  The  business,  thus  begun,  proved 
sufficiently  remunerative,  notwithstanding  an  explosion 
in  1778,  which  destroyed  a  portion  of  the  establish- 
ment, with  the  loss  of  three  lives ;  and  was  continued 
until  1796,  when  a  similar  catastrophe  brought  it  to 
a  close,  as,  at  that  time,  Mr.  Phillips  had  a  variety  of 
other  less  hazardous  business  on  his  hands. 

When  the  war,  which  he  had  been  so  zealous  to 
sustain,  was  nearly  terminated,  the  claims  of  the  suf- 
fering army  upon  the  country  enlisted  his  warmest 
sympathy.  "  This  is  the  day,"  he  writes,  to  Mrs.  Phil- 
lips, from  Boston,  under  date  of  March  4th,  1780, 
"  when  I  usually  enjoyed  the  satisfaction  of  setting  my 
face  homeward;  but  duty  forbids  my  enjoyment  of 
that  pleasure  to-day ;  the  importunity  of  hundreds  of 

1  American  Archives,  Vols.  II.  and  III. 


JUDGE      PHILLIPS.  75 

poor  soldiers  who  have  been  suffering  much  and  haz- 
arding life  for  my  defence,  and  who  are  asking  only 
for  that  which  they  were  assured  they  should  have 
received  the  first  of  last  January,  requires  me  to  put 
on  self-denial." 

As  the  Eevolutionary  drama  unfolded,  too,  in  all  its 
magnitude,  the  great  problem  of  reconstructing  the 
fabric  of  civil  government  in  new  forms,  and  with 
new  doctrines  underlying  the  whole,  began  to  occupy 
his  mind ;  thus  launching  him  upon  a  career  of  varied 
civil  service,  which  it  is  now  time  for  us  to  trace. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

HIS    AGENCY    IN    THE    ORGANIZATION   AND    ADMINISTRATION    OF 
THE   STATE   GOVERNMENT. 

WITH  their  early  partiality  which  had  chosen  him 
to  honorable  offices  in  the  town,  and  for  several  suc- 
cessive years  elected  him  as  their  Kepresentative  to 
the  Legislature,  his  fellow-citizens  cast  their  united 
suffrages  for  him  as  one  of  the  four  delegates  from 
Andover  to  the  Constitutional  Convention  which  com- 
menced its  sessions  in  Cambridge,  September  1,  1779. 

The  independence  of  the  Colonies  had  been  solemn- 
ly declared;  the  tide  of  war,  though  not  yet  spent, 
was  rolling  away  westward  and  southward,  and  all 
looked  for  its  speedy  and  triumphant  termination ;  it 
was  time  to  enter  upon  the  work  of  inaugurating  a 
Republican  Government,  upon  the  basis  of  the  great 
Republican  Revolution.  Indeed,  one  effort  had  already 
been  made,  by  the  citizens  of  Massachusetts,  in  this 
direction,  but  without  success;  the  new  constitution 
proposed  by  the  Legislature  of  1777-78,  acting  as  a 

(T6) 


MEMOIR    OF    JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  77 

convention,  not  being  approved  by  a  majority  of  the 
people.  It  might  have  been  inferred  from  this  circum- 
stance, that  the  patriotism  of  the  times  was  better  fitted 
to  break  down  than  to  build  up;  more  radical  than 
progressive.  It  was  the  more  important,  therefore, 
that  the  second  effort  should  be  the  best  work  of  our 
best  men.  At  the  opening  of  the  Convention  in  Cam- 
bridge, in  the  meeting-house  of  the  first  society,  three 
hundred  delegates  presented  their  credentials,  among 
whom  stand  the  names  of  John  Adams,  Samuel  Adams, 
John  Hancock,  James  Bowdoin,  Levi  Lincoln,  John 
Lowell,  Theophilus  Parsons,  John  Pickering,  Eobert 
Treat  Paine,  Caleb  Strong,  and  scores  of  others  who 
had  distinguished  themselves  in  the  struggle  for 
liberty. 

In  two  days  after  it  had  assembled,  the  Convention 
was  organized,  and  passed,  as  properly  preliminary  to 
its  work,  the  following  Resolutions :  — 

"  Resolved,  unanimously,  That  the  Government,  to  be 
framed  by  this  Convention,  shall  be  a  FREE  REPUBLIC. 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  of  the  essence  of  a  free  Republic, 
that  the  people  be  governed  by  FIXED  LAWS  OF  THEIR  OWN 

MAKING." 

Proceeding  upon  this  platform,  a  committee  of  thirty- 
one  members,  carefully  selected  and  chosen  by  ballot, 
was  then  appointed  to  prepare  "  a  Frame  of  a  Consti- 
tution and  Declaration  of  Rights,"  to  be  reported  to 

7* 


78  MEMOIROF 

the  Convention ;  upon  which  committee,  Mr.  Phillips 
was  placed  as  one  of  three  from  his  county,  being  as- 
sociated in  this  important  service  with  both  the  Ad- 
amses, Mr.  Bowdoin,  Mr.  Parsons,  Mr.  Paine,  and  other 
names  of  the  highest  distinction. 

After  six  continuous  weeks  of  arduous  labor  in 
scanning,  and  accepting  or  rejecting,  the  report  of  this 
committee,  sentence  by  sentence,  the  Convention  ad- 
journed for  a  recess  until  January,  during  which  inter- 
val, John  Adams  sailed  for  Europe,  leaving  to  his  asso- 
ciates the  task  of  finishing  what  he  and  they  had  so 
well  begun.  The  journal  of  the  Convention  in  its  first 
sitting  shows  that  the  discussions  were  often  protracted; 
questions  are  spoken  of  as  "  largely  debated,"  as  hav- 
ing been  decided  after  "  an  extensive  debate,"  or  after 
"  a  long  debate ; "  on  some  topics  the  first  draught  of 
the  committee  was  finally  recommitted,  and  an  en- 
tirely new  one  presented,  so  that  much  the  largest  part 
of  their  important  work  yet  remained  to  be  done  when 
they  adjourned. 

The  attempt  to  reassemble  in  January  failed  at  first, 
the  severity  of  the  ever  memorable  hard  winter  of 
1780  rendering  it  nearly  impossible  for  the  country 
members  to  get  to  Boston,  where  they  now  proposed 
to  meet ;  and  the  smallpox  having  broken  out  in  the 
city,  so  that  there  was  great  unwillingness  to  convene 
there ;  but  after  a  week's  delay,  the  new  session  began 
in  the  Representatives'  Chamber,  with  the  galleries 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  79 

opened  to  spectators.  In  February,  after  several  weeks 
of  close  application  to  the  details  of  their  work,  a  mo- 
tion was  passed,  u  that  a  committee  be  appointed  to 
form  a  declaration,  or  test,  wherein  every  person,  be- 
fore he  takes  his  seat  as  a  representative,  senator,  or 
governor,  or  enters  upon  the  execution  of  any  impor- 
tant office  or  trust  in  the  Commonwealth,  shall  re- 
nounce every  principle,  (whether  it  be  Roman  Cath- 
olic, Mahometan,  Deistical,  or  Infidel,)  which  has  any 
the  least  tendency  to  subvert  the  civil  or  religious 
rights  established  by  this  Constitution."  Mr.  Phillips 
was  placed  among  the  first  on  this  committee,  in  con- 
nection with  Mr.  Pickering  and  Samuel  Adams.1 

1  The  test,  reported  by  this  committee,  as  finally  incorporated 
into  the  Constitution,  is  as  follows :  — "  Every  person  chosen  to 
either  of  the  places  or  offices  aforesaid,  as  also  any  person  ap- 
pointed or  commissioned  to  any  judicial,  executive,  military,  or 
other  office  under  the  government,  shall,  before  he  enters  on  the  dis- 
charge of  the  business  of  his  place  or  office,  take  and  subscribe  the 
following  declaration,  and  oaths  or  affirmations,  namely,  — 

"  I,  A.  B.,  do  truly  and  sincerely  acknowledge,  profess,  testify,  and 
declare,  that  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  is,  and  of  right 
ought  to  be,  a  free,  sovereign,  and  independent  State  ;  and  I  do  swear 
that  I  will  bear  true  faith  and  allegiance  to  the  said  Commonwealth, 
and  that  I  will  defend  the  same  against  traitorous  conspiracies,  and  all 
hostile  attempts  whatsoever ;  and  that  I  do  renounce  and  abjure  all 
allegiance,  subjection,  and  obedience  to  the  King,  Queen,  or  govern 
ment  of  Great  Britain,  (as  the  case  may  be,)  and  every  other  foreign 
power  whatsoever ;  and  that  no  foreign  prince,  person,  prelate,  state, 
or  potentate,  hath,  or  ought  to  have,  any  jurisdiction,  superiority,  pre- 


80  MEMOIR    OF 

By  the  2d  of  March,  the  Convention  had  so  far  ma- 
tured the  proposed  Constitution,  as  to  adjourn  again, 
meanwhile  submitting  their  work  to  the  suffrages  of 
the  people. 

•  During  these  two  months,  the  debates  are  repre- 
sented as  "  very  full,"  and  the  care  with  which  every 
paragraph  and  phrase  was  adjusted,  step  by  step,  is 
exceedingly  interesting  to  notice.  At  the  third  and 
very  brief  session,  which  was  held  in  the  Brattle  Street 
Church  in  June,  it  appeared  from  the  returns,  that  the 
Constitution  had  been  adopted  by  the  votes  of  more 
than  two  thirds  of  the  people,  and  the  Convention  for- 
mally declared  it  to  be  "  the  Constitution  of  Govern- 
ment established  by  and  for  the  inhabitants  of  the 
State  of  Massachusetts  Bay." 1 

In  all  this  work,  of  nearly  four  months  in  the  aggre- 

eminence,  authority,  dispensing  or  other  power,  in  any  matter,  civil, 
ecclesiastical,  or  spiritual,  within  this  Commonwealth;  except  the 
authority  and  power  which  is  or  may  be  vested  by  their  constituents 
in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States :  And  I  do  further  testify  and 
declare  that  no  man  or  body  of  men  hath  or  can  have  any  right  to 
absolve  or  discharge  me  from  the  obligation  of  this  oath,  declaration, 
or  affirmation ;  and  that  I  do  make  this  acknowledgment,  profession, 
testimony,  declaration,  denial,  renunciation,  and  abjuration,  heartily 
and  truly,  according  to  the  common  meaning  and  acceptation  of  the 
foregoing  words,  without  any  equivocation,  mental  evasion,  or  secret 
reservation  whatsoever.  So  help  me  GOD." 
1  See  Journal  of  the  Convention,  p.  1-225. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  81 

gate,  Mr.  Phillips,  though  not  entitled  by  age  and  ex- 
perience to  hold  so  eminent  a  place  as  some  of  the 
master-spirits  of  the  Convention,  is  represented  as  hav- 
ing labored  effectively,  both  in  the  committee  rooms 
and  in  the  House,  supporting  earnestly  and  often  in 
the  public  discussions  the  matured  propositions  of  his 
own  and  other  committees,  which  were  finally  adopted. 
It  is  to  be  here  remembered,  that  no  such  Republican 
Constitution  had  ever  before  been  written ;  these  men 
were  to  construct,  not  copy ;  and  their  position  made 
them  continually  learners,  while  they  were  so  acting 
as  to  be  also  the  teachers  of  the  land,  in  the  science  of 
government. 

When  they  had  so  well  done  the  work  committed 
to  them,  therefore,  they  had  acquired  the  best  possible 
fitness  to  serve  their  fellow-citizens  in  the  various  civil 
offices  which  the  Constitution  established ;  and  we  ac- 
cordingly find  the  prominent  men  of  this  Convention 
called  at  once,  by  the  people,  to  the  chief  posts  in  the 
government  which  they  had  adopted.  Mr.  Hancock 
was  the  first  Governor,  succeeded  in  a  few  years  by 
Mr.  Bowdoin,  and  then  in  turn  succeeding  him.  Mr. 
Samuel  Adams  was  the  first  President  of  the  Senate,  and 
afterwards  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  Governor.  Messrs. 
Lowell,  Lincoln,  Pickering,  Greenleaf,  Holton,  and  oth- 
ers were  called  to  the  bench  as  judges  in  the  various 
courts  5  yet  others  of  the  Convention  became  conspic- 
ous  as  members  of  the  Governor's  Council,  or  as  lead- 
ers in  the  House  of  Representatives  and  the  Senate. 


82  MEMOIR    OF 

At  the  very  first  popular  election  under  the  new 
Constitution  in  September,  1780,  Mr.  Phillips  was 
chosen  a  member  of  the  Senate,  which  became  thence- 
forth his  home  as  a  legislator.  In  this  canvass,  his 
father  also  was  upon  the  same  ticket  for  councillors 
and  senators  with  himself;  but  the  son  received,  in 
his  native  place,  treble  the  number  of  votes  thrown 
for  the  father. 

Early  in  the  succeeding  year,  although  not  profes- 
sionally versed  in  the  law,  and  not  yet  thirty  years  of 
age,  he  was  also  appointed  by  Governor  Hancock  and 
his  Council  one  of  the  justices  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  for  the  county  of  Essex,  which  office  was  the 
occasion  of  his  being  from  this  time  conveniently  dis- 
tinguished from  others  of  the  family  name,  as  Judge 
Phillips.  It  will  best  serve  our  purpose  to  speak  of 
him  briefly  first  as  judge  rather  than  as  a  senator, 
since  his  long  judicial  service,  running  parallel  with 
his  career  in  the  Senate,  was  the  more  brief  of  the 
two. 

He  entered  upon  his  duties  as  judge,  not  without 
careful  preparation,  we  are  assured,  at  a  court  holden 
in  Newburyport,  September  25,  1781,  being  associated 
in  the  office  with  his  friends,  the  Hon.  Benjamin 
Greenleaf,  Samuel  Holton,  Esq.,  and  John  Pickering, 
Esq.,  all  of  whom  had  been  with  him  in  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention,  and  subsequently  in  the  General 
Court. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  83 

The  uniform  arrangement,  for  many  years,  was  for 
this  County  Court  to  hold  four  terms  annually;  the  Sep- 
tember term  in  Newburyport,  the  December  and  July 
terms  in  Salem,  and  the  April  term  in  Ipswich  ;  but  in 
1790,  a  change  was  made  to  three  terms,  September, 
April,  and  July.  At  the  April  term  in  Ipswich,  1782, 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  cases  were  tried ;  in  July, 
there  were  one  hundred  and  thirty  cases  at  Salem  ;  in 
September,  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  at  Newbury- 
port ;  and  the  records  for  this  year  alone,  cover  nearly 
two  hundred  and  forty  folio  pages. 

It  will  be  seen  from  this,  that  the  business  of  the 
court  in  this  large  county  was  exceedingly  onerous, 
consuming  from  three  to  four  months  yearly,  and  in- 
volving every  variety  of  experience  in  the  justices. 
Mr.  Pickering  served  as  one  of  the  justices  only  two 
or  three  years ;  but  Judge  Greenleaf  was  in  the  office 
till  1796,  and  Judge  Holton  still  longer.  Judge  Phil- 
lips held  his  office  until  1798,  appearing  upon  the 
bench  for  the  last  time  in  April  of  that  year ;  and 
never  having  been  absent,  except  in  two  cases,  when 
serving  the  public  in  other  duties,  during  the  whole 
period  of  more  than  sixteen  years  !  When  he  resigned, 
only  Judge  Holton  was  his  senior  in  office.  The  high 
character  of  all  these  justices,  and  their  long  contin- 
uance in  office,  made  this  a  model  court  for  the  times. 

Of  Judge  Phillips,  one  who  knew  him  well  has  said, 
"  his  wisdom,  justice,  and  patriotism,  were  for  a  long 


84  MEMOIR     OF 

time  exercised  in  one  of  our  judiciary  departments ; 
in  which  his  ability  and  integrity,  his  patient,  candid, 
and  diligent  attention,  were  universally  approved." 1 

From  a  copy  of  one  his  addresses  to  the  grand-jury 
at  one  of  the  terms,  which  is  preserved  in  his  hand- 
writing, we  quote  the  following,  as  an  illustration  of 
his  judicial  tone  :  — 

"  You  having  been  chosen  grand-jurors  for  the  body  of 
this  county,  and  having  taken  the  oath  which  has  been  ad- 
ministered, it  is  incumbent  on  the  Court,  to  specify  several 
parts  of  your  duty  in  this  capacity ;  —  and  as  some  of  you  have 
served  the  public  in  this  office  before,  and  most,  if  not  all  of 
you,  must  have  been  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  it,  it  is 
hardly  necessary  to  inform  you,  that  it  is  your  duty  not  only 
to  receive  complaints  which  may  be  made  to  you,  when  to- 
gether or  apart,  of  the  offences  against  divers  laws  of  the 
Commonwealth  which  are  cognizable  by  this  court,  (some  of 
which  will  be  particularly  enumerated,)  but  to  make  obser- 
vations yourselves  of  those  offences  when  they  shall  fall 
within  your  notice ;  and  when  convened  at  any  term  of  the 
court,  to  communicate  to  each  other  any  such  observations 
as  you  may  have  made,  and  the  informations  you  may  have 
received,  as  well  as  the  evidence  to  support  them,  —  and  also 
to  judge  of  all  such  communications,  whether  made  by  any 
of  your  ov^n  number,  or  by  any  other  person;  in  the  first 
place  to  consider  whether  the  complaints  before  you  are  cog- 
nizable by  this  court,  and  proper  to  be  noticed  by  them,  if 
found  to  be  fact ;  in  the  second  place,  whether  the  evidence 

1  Dr.  Tappan,  Funeral  Discourse,  p.  9. 


JUDGEPIIILLIPS.  85 

produced  to  support  the  complaint  be  sufficient  for  that  pur- 
pose :  —  Thus  you  may  be  considered  as  the  eye  and  the  ear 
of  the  public,  which  the  law  has  provided,  to  notice  those 
offences  that  come  within  your  knowledge,  and  which  the 
public  welfare  requires  should  be  corrected  and  suppressed. 

"  The  laws  which  demand  your  attention,  are  those  which 
require  towns  to  provide  and  maintain  schools  within  their 
limits,  to  keep  their  highways  and  bridges  in  repair,  etc. ;  all 
these  laws  are  important  in  their  nature,  and  the  execution 
of  them  necessary  to  the  well-being  of  the  community;  but 
unless  those  who  constitute  the  inquest  of  the  County,  are 
diligent  and  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  their  office,  the  labor 
and  pains  of  the  Legislature  are  worse  than  lost,  and  the 
people  are  deprived  of  that  benefit  which  they  have  a  right 
to  expect,  and  which  we,  so  far  as  the  duties  of  our  several 
stations  extend,  are  solemnly  bound  to  confer;  for  it  ought  to 
be  remembered  that  every  law,  unexecuted,  is  a  standing 
monument  of  the  imbecility  of  government,  and  tends  to 
bring  its  authority  into  disrepute  and  contempt.  It  may  not, 
however,  be  amiss  to  caution  you  against  the  influence  of 
prejudice  and  passion,  as  well  as  every  undue  bias  whatever 
in  all  your  inquiries  and  determinations,  —  wherever  there  is 
just  reason  to  suspect  that  private  animosities  are  promotive 
of  public  complaints,  in  such  cases,  you  will  exercise  double 
vigilance." 

"  There  is  one  object  to  which  we  would  point  your  partic- 
ular notice,  I  mean  the  laws  which  provide  for  the  maintenance 
of  grammar  schools  in  our  several  towns.  These  laws  are 
upon  a  subject  which  our  venerable  ancestors  and  fathers 
viewed  to  be  of  vast  consequence  to  the  welfare  of  their 

8 


86  MEMOIR    OF 

country  ;  and  to  their  views  of  it,  under  the  smiles  of  Heaven, 
is  in  a  great  measure  owing  that  degree  of  success,  which 
has  attended  their  posterity.  To  their  salutary  regulations 
of  this  kind  may  be  ascribed,  in  a  great  measure,  the  im- 
provements of  various  kinds  which  have  been  made  in  our 
country;  and  the  effect  of  them  has  been  remarkably  con- 
spicuous in  the  late  surprising  Revolution,  from  its  com- 
mencement through  the  various  stages  of  its  progress,  and 
especially  in  the  very  advantageous  termination  of  it. 

"  These  effects  have  been  no  less  manifest  in  the  formation 
and  adoption  of  those  excellent  Constitutions  of  Government 
under  which  we  live  ;  but  the  harvest  of  benefits  which  are 
now  opening  to  our  view,  and  for  which  so  high  a  price  has 
been  paid,  will  hardly  be  realized,  or  if  realized,  will  be  of  but 
short  continuance,  without  an  unremitted  care  to  instruct  the 
youth  of  the  community  generally,  in  useful  knowledge ;  to 
inculcate  just  principles,  and  form  good  habits,  at  that  period 
of  life  which,  if  not  the  only  one,  is  incomparably  the  most  fa- 
vorable for  those  purposes. 

"  In  some  instances,  it  may  be  found  the  law  I  am 
speaking  of  has  been  disregarded  in  all  its  parts  ;  in  others, 
where  respect  has  been  paid  to  the  number  of  schools  re- 
quired to  be  kept,  and  to  the  periods  for  supporting  them, 
another  provision,  which  prescribes  the  qualifications  of  the 
instructors,  and  the  judges  of  those  qualifications,  it  is  to  be 
feared,  has  been  greatly  neglected ;  and  this,  perhaps,  for  the 
sake  of  obtaining  cheap  instructors ;  a  parsimony  this  that  is 
pitiable  indeed;  for,  after  all  our  pains,  if  we  could  leave  pos- 
terity possessed  of  the  wealth  of  the  Indies,  without  virtuous 
principles  and  good  habits,  the  habits  of  industry  and  econ- 
omy particularly,  the  possession  would  not  be  very  lasting ; 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  87 

and  while  it  might  continue,  would  not  produce  any  consid- 
erable degree  of  rational  enjoyment.  Those  who  will  under- 
take to  cultivate  and  regulate  the  minds  of  youth,  and  are 
qualified  for  the  undertaking,  do  well  deserve  an  honorable 
reward  ;  and  by  employing  others,  upon  any  terms  whatever, 
we  deceive  ourselves,  and  do  our  children  an  injury  which, 
in  most  instances,  will  never  be  repaired. 

"  I  doubt  not,  gentlemen,  you  will  discharge  the  duties  of 
this  office  in  such  a  manner  as  to  afford  satisfaction  to  your 
own  minds,  in  reflection,  and  promote  the  peace,  good  order, 
and  respectability  of  the  county  in  which  we  have  the  hap- 
piness to  live." 

Admirably  as  such  sentiments,  clothed  in  so  lucid 
a  style,  show  him  to  have  been  fitted  for  this  station, 
and  congenial  as  it  was  to  his  natural  tastes  and  habits 
of  mind,  his  other  multiplied  public  cares,  together 
with  frequent  illness,  compelled  him  at  length  to  re- 
sign the  office.  We  turn,  therefore,  to  view  him  now 
in  other  civic  toils  and  trusts. 

After  his  first  election  from  his  district  to  the  Senate 
of  the  Commonwealth,  in  1780,  he  continued  to  be 
annually  returned  to  that  body  during  nearly  the  whole 
period  of  his  remaining  life.  For  the  first  five  years, 
Mr.  Samuel  Adams  was  President,  as  already  stated, 
and  Judge  Phillips  was  prominent  only  as  his  talents, 
weight  of  character,  admirable  business  habits,  and  ripe 
experience  in  legislation,  gave  him  influence.  But 


88  MEMOIROF 

when  Mr.  Adams  "  was  persuaded  to  resign  the  chair," 
Judge  Phillips  succeeded  him  at  once  as  President  of 
the  Senate,  in  which  office  he  became  more  widely 
known,  and  is  perhaps  better  remembered,  than  in  any 
other  that  he  ever  filled.  Once  raised  to  this  chair,  it 
seemed  thenceforth  to  be  his  by  a  sort  of  inalienable 
right,  though  he  was  too  humble  so  to  regard  it,  and 
at  times,  as  we  learn  from  letters  to  Madam  Phillips, 
was  disposed  to  decline  it. 

For  fifteen  years  he  was  the  choice  of  all  parties, 
being  elected  President  usually  by  a  unanimous  vote. 
Dr.  Tappan,  in  the  funeral  discourse,  already  referred 
to,  delineates  him  as  a  presiding  officer,  in  the  following 
words : — "In  this  high  and  delicate  situation,  he  equally 
honored  himself  and  benefited  the  Commonwealth,  by 
his  punctuality  and  assiduity,  by  his  correctness  and 
despatch,  by  his  mild,  impartial,  and  dignified  conduct." 
In  other  notices  of  his  senatorial  life  which  appeared 
in  the  papers  at  the  same  period,  special  mention  is 
made  of  "his  singular  and  unremitted  attention  to 
business,  and  his  facility  in  transacting  it,"  and  of  his 
"known  independence  and  integrity  of  character;" 
and  Governor  Strong,  in  a  message  to  the  Legislature, 
bears  testimony  to  "  his  distinguished  merit,"  character- 
izing him  as  "  one  of  the  best  and  ablest "  men  in  the 
Commonwealth,  who  had  long  presided  over  the  de- 
liberations of  the  Senate  "with  candor  and  dignity." 
Indeed,  though  there  were  every  year  much  older 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  89 

men  than  he  on  that  floor,  he  was  for  many  years 
officially  the  senior  member,  and  was  regarded  as  the 
father  of  the  Senate,  having  more  personal  considera- 
tion by  far  than  any  other,  in  addition  to  the  authority 
of  his  position. 

By  this  long  continued  activity  in  the  legislation  of 
the  Commonwealth,  under  such  advantages  of  office 
and  experience,  he  contributed  largely  to  the  dignity, 
as  well  as  the  stability,  of  the  new  civil  order  which 
his  hand  had  helped  to  originate. 

"  The  late  surprising  Revolution,"  as  he  terms  it,  had, 
however,  left  behind  it  some  deep-rooted  discontents, 
as  in  its  origin  and  progress  it  had  been  marred  by 
some  excesses.  There  were  men,  in  all  these  years, 
who  sought  not  so  much  well-regulated  liberty,  as  un- 
restrained license.  The  final,  and  much  the  most  gen- 
eral, as  well  as  dangerous  exhibition  of  this  lawless 
spirit,  was  the  memorable  Shays'  Rebellion. 

With  many  previous  local  disturbances,  this  wide 
spread  concert  to  resist  the  Government  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, had  become  alarming  in  the  summer  of 
1786,  especially  throughout  the  counties  of  Berkshire, 
Hampshire,  Worcester,  Middlesex,  and  Bristol.  The 
administration  of  justice  in  the  courts  had  been  ob- 
structed by  the  insurgents  at  Northampton,  at  Spring- 
field, at  Worcester,  at  Concord,  at  Taunton.  A  body 
of  the  conspirators,  fifteen  hundred  strong,  were  under 

8* 


90  MEMOIR    OF 

arms  in  the  vicinity  of  Northampton,  and  smaller  parties 
elsewhere,  committing  numberless  outrages  upon  the 
supporters  of  the  government.  The  same  riotous  spirit 
in  New  Hampshire,  menaced  the  Legislature  in  session 
at  Exeter,  and  was  only  quelled  by  the  prompt  rally- 
ing of  the  citizens.  Contiguous  portions  of  Vermont 
and  of  New  York,  were  becoming  in  like  manner  dis- 
affected. The  collection  of  taxes  was  especially  re- 
sisted, and  loud  demands  for  a  redress  of  alleged  griev- 
ances were  made  in  every  quarter.1 

The  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  had  exerted 
itself  to  avert  the  impending  storm,  by  conciliatory 
and  temperate  legislation ;  but  its  lenity  was  mistaken 
for  timidity.  The  more  it  sought  to  win  the  turbulent 
populace,  the  more  infuriated  and  insolent  they  be- 
came. The  military  were,  therefore,  at  last  called  out 
in  strong  force,  and  civil  war  began  in  earnest.  The 
chief  command  of  the  troops  was  committed  by  Gov- 
ernor Bowdoin  to  General  Benjamin  Lincoln,  "  whose 
reputation  and  mildness  of  temper  rendered  him  doub- 
ly capacitated  for  so  delicate  and  important  a  trust." 
About  three  quarters  of  the  whole  force  were  to  be 
raised  in  the  counties  most  disturbed,  and  the  remain- 
der in  Suffolk  and  Essex. 

A  brief,  but   arduous   winter  campaign  of  two   or 

1  Holmes's  Annals,  Vol.  II.  p.  471-477.     Also  Minot's  History  of 
the  Insurrection. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  91 

three  months,  in  1787,  sufficed.  Such  forces  as  Shays 
and  his  confederates  could  muster,  in  different  locali- 
ties, as  at  Springfield,  Pittefield,  and  their  vicinities, 
were  soon  dispersed.  There  was  little  actual  fighting, 
but  much  severe  marching,  the  insurrectionists  every- 
where fleeing,  and  the  troops  pressing  hard  upon  them 
in  pursuit. 

While  the  army  were  thus  summarily  dispersing  the 
rebels,  Governor  Bowdoin  issued  his  Proclamation, 
dated  February  9th,  setting  a  price  of  £150  upon  the 
head  of  Shays  and  of  £100  upon  each  of  the  other 
three  leaders,  Wheeler,  Parsons,  and  Day.  On  the 
16th  of  the  same  month,  the  Legislature  passed  an 
Act,  defining  the  terms  upon  which  pardon  and  indem- 
nity might  be  extended  to  all  who  had  borne  arms 
against  the  State,  excepting  these;  and,  on  the  10th 
of  March,  pursuant  to  this  Act,  a  Resolve  was  passed, 
appointing  a  special  commission  to  treat  with  the  dis- 
affected, and  receive  their  submission,  as  there  was 
now  evidence  that  large  numbers  were  anxious  to  be 
reconciled  to  the  government. 

The  Commissioners  were  General  Lincoln,  the  com- 
mander of  the  troops  called  out,  Judge  Phillips,  President 
of  the  Senate,  and  Samuel  Allyne  Otis,  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  who  immediately  addressed 
themselves  to  their  responsible  work.  Repairing  first 
to  Berkshire,  and  then  to  Hampshire,  and  other  coun- 
ties in  succession,  they  in  the  brief  space  of  a  month, 


92  MEMOIR    OF 

succeeded  in  effectually  extinguishing  the  last  hope  of 
the  conspirators.  Scattering  everywhere  freely  printed 
copies  of  the  Act  and  Kesolve,  under  which  they  were 
deputed,  they  invited  applications  for  the  offered 
amnesty. 

All  applicants  were  required,  by  them,  to  bring  a 
certificate,  signed  by  two  persons  of  known  attach- 
ment to  the  government,  that  they  were  believed  to 
be  really  penitent ;  and  were  also  obliged  to  subscribe 
a  confession  that  they  had  been  concerned  in  the  re- 
bellion, that  they  were  sincerely  penitent  and  wished 
to  return  to  their  allegiance  to  the  State ;  and  to  engage 
that  they  would  defend  the  government  and  comply 
with  the  laws  as  faithful  citizens,  and  exert  themselves 
to  induce  others  to  do  the  same.1  As  an  illustration  of 
the  solicitude  and  gloom  which  now  prevailed,  as  well 
as  of  the  self-sacrificing  devotion  with  which  Judge 
Phillips  participated  in  this  commission,  we  cite  here 
an  extract  from  a  letter  of  Madam  Phillips  to  him 
while  he  was  at  Northampton. 

After  referring  to  two  or  three  previous  letters  which 
she  had  written,  without  asking  or  expecting  him  to 
reply  while  so  absorbed  with  cares,  she  says :  — 

"  April  3,  1787.  —  I  feel  exceedingly  for  you,  judging  you 
must  be  anxious,  very  anxious,  on  account  of  the  aspect  of 
public  affairs,  which  is  truly  alarming !  —  but  I  trust  you  will 

1  See  Journal  of  General  Court,  1787.     Also  Acts  and  Resolves. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  93 

not  suffer  your  thoughts  to  make  long  visits  to  your  family. 
I  wish  you  to  exert  every  faculty  for  the  public  good.  I  sin- 
cerely wish  the  Divine  blessing  may  attend  your  consulta- 
tions. I  am  very  willing  to  make  any  sacrifice,  might  tran- 
quillity be  restored  to  our  deluded  States; — Heaven  only 
knows  where  it  will  end !  " 

It  was  not  long,  however,  that  such  forebodings  con- 
tinued. Moving,  as  the  troops  had  done,  with  great 
celerity  from  point  to  point,  the  Commissioners  had  the 
address  to  conciliate  and  win  the  disaffected  in  great 
numbers.  In  their  report  to  the  government,  dated 
April  27,  they  stated  that  seven  hundred  and  ninety 
persons  had  returned  to  their  allegiance ;  and  that  on 
the  most  careful  inquiry  into  the  various  causes  of  the 
insurrection,  they  had  found  the  chief  cause  to  be 
"  private  debts,"  and  "  an  undue  use  of  articles  of  for- 
eign growth  and  manufacture,  the  principal  cause  of 
these  debts." 

Meanwhile,  many  who  had  been  involved  in  the  in- 
surrection quietly  withdrew  from  the  contest  with  the 
government,  before  the  crisis  came,  and  the  leaders 
fled  from  the  State.  It  was  in  consequence  of  Judge 
Phillips's  service  in  this  high  commission,  that  in  the 
State  election  for  this  year,  1787,  he  was  not  one  of 
the  senatorial  candidates,  and  in  the  organization  of 
the  Senate  Mr.  Adams  was  again  chosen  President; 
but  the  next  year  Mr.  Phillips  was  reinstated  in  the 
chair,  while  General  Lincoln  was  chosen  Lieutenant- 


94  MEMOIROF 

Governor ;  both,  with  their  associate,  having  won 
golden  opinions  in  the  Commonwealth  for  their  great 
success  in  this  trust 

Year  after  year  now  glided  away  with  no  marked 
change  in  his  position;  he  was  still  the  indefatigable 
judge,  as  well  as  the  eminent  senator,  and  many  were 
beginning  to  cast  their  suffrages  for  him  for  yet  higher 
offices.  At  the  very  next  election,  after  his  mission 
to  the  western  counties  during  the  insurrection,  he  re- 
ceived several  votes  in  his  native  town  for  Governor ; 
and  from  this  time,  his  friends,  in  increasing  numbers, 
continued  to  vote  for  him  either  as  Governor  or  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor annually,  while  invariably  giving  him 
a  full  vote  for  senator  also.  Indeed,  for  several  suc- 
cessive years,  his  name  was  upon  their  ticket,  at  the 
same  time,  for  all  three  of  these  offices;  and  in  the 
year  1796,  he  had  more  votes  in  the  town  for  Governor 
than  any  other  candidate. 

Yet,  instead  of  desiring  promotion,  or  even  continu- 
ance, in  the  public  service,  except  as  a  public  duty,  he 
sometimes  intimates,  during  these  years,  his  settled  dis- 
taste for  many  of  the  scenes  through  which  he  is  called 
to  pass.  "If  our  son  John,"  he  writes,  March  2,  1795, 
u  could  be  a  witness  to  what  has  fallen  within  my  no- 
tice in  the  four  last  weeks,  public  life,  or  rather  Gen- 
eral Court  life,  would  be  the  last  object  of  his  wish  ; " 
—  his  allusion  here  is,  to  the  protracted  delay  of  busi- 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  95 

ness  in  the  Legislature,  in  consequence  of  the  tamper- 
ing of  interested  parties  with  the  committees,  and 
u  an  uncommon  degree  of  manoeuvring  by  certain  gen- 
tlemen." 

While  his  fellow-citizens  were  thus,  not  without  some 
reluctance  on  his  part,  holding  him  to  his  fitting  sta- 
tion in  the  Senate,  until  he  seemed  a  fixture  there,  and 
were  intimating  their  wish  to  raise  him  to  other  dig- 
nities, the  Commonwealth  had  borne  its  full  part  in 
the  great  work  of  consolidating  the  national  govern- 
ment ;  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  had  taken 
the  place  of  the  old  Articles  of  Confederation ;  party 
spirit  had  run  high  —  and  nowhere  higher  than  in 
Andover,  hitherto  so  united  —  in  the  debates  con- 
nected with  the  adoption  of  this  great  Republican  form 
of  government.1 

1  The  vote  in  the  Massachusetts  Convention  upon  the  question  of 
adopting  the  Federal  Constitution  stood,  Yeas  187,  Nays  168.  In 
the  other  States  there  was  a  similar  conflict  of  judgment,  and  of 
party  feeling,  so  that  as  State  after  State  finally  adopted  the  great 
instrument  the  rejoicing  of  its  advocates  was  enthusiastic. 

The  decisive  vote  in  Massachusetts  was  taken  February  6,  1788, 
and  the  Chronicle  of  the  next  day,  in  communicating  the  event  to 
the  public,  introduces  it  with  this  exulting  caption :  — 

"  Hail  the  DAY,  and  MARK  it  well, 
Then  old  ANARCH'S  kingdom  fell, 
Then  our  dawning  GLORY  shone, 
Mark  it,  FREEMEN,  't  is  our  own." 


96  MEMOIR    OF 

For  this  instrument  itself,  and  for  the  great  men 
who  had  devised  it,  Judge  Phillips  entertained  the 
highest  veneration ;  and  when  in  1797-8-9,  our  amica- 
ble relations  with  France  were  interrupted,  and  intrigues 
of  every  description  were  disaffecting  many  towards  the 
government,  he  was  not  content  to  remain  silent.  Un- 
der his  influence,  a  town  meeting  of  the  old  type  was 
held ;  the  earnestness  and  unanimity  of  Revolutionary 
days  again  appeared,  notwithstanding  the  federal  and 
anti-federal  lines  had  been  so  distinctly  drawn.  In  the 
church  where  he  now  statedly  worshipped,1  before  a 
very  full  assembly  of  the  citizens,  specially  convened 
for  the  occasion,  on  the  14th  of  May,  he  as  chairman 
of  the  committee,  reported,  and  they  unanimously 
adopted  the  following  address :  — 

[To  the  President  of  the  United  States.] 

"  SIR,  —  We,  the  freeholders  and  other  inhabitants  of  the 
town  of  Andover,  in  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts, 
beg  leave  to  join  the  multitude  of  our  fellow-citizens,  in  pre- 

Arrangements  were  promptly  made  by  the  citizens  of  Boston  for  a 
splendid  pageant,  which,  in  a  few  days,  was  celebrated  with  every 
sign  of  joy ;  —  and  when,  a  short  time  after,  the  news  came  that 
New  Hampshire  had  also  adopted  the  Constitution,  this  being  the 
ninth  State,  the  number  required  to  consummate  the  national  Act, 
the  whole  town  was  thrown  into  a  fever  of  excitement,  and  the 
bells  rang  for  hours,  as  they  had  done  when  the  Stamp-Act  was  re- 
pealed. 

1  The  present  Old  South  Church. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  97 

senting  you  our  warmest  gratitude,  for  that  wisdom,  vigilance, 
integrity,  and  patriotism  which  have  marked  your  adminis- 
tration ;  and  in  particular,  for  your  persevering  solicitude  to 
preserve  to  these  States  the  blessings  of  peace  and  neutrality, 
upon  such  terms  as  would  consist  with  the  preservation  of 
our  essential  rights  and  interests. 

"  Although  repeated  attempts  to  accommodate  subsisting 
differences  with  the  French  Republic  have  not  produced  the 
effect  which  might  have  been  reasonably  expected,  they  may 
prove  essential  means  of  our  political  salvation,  by  unfolding 
the  designs  and  enormous  demands  of  that  government, 
which  we  have  been  unwilling  to  conclude  our  enemy.  This 
disclosure  must  produce  universal  conviction,  that  no  hope 
of  safety  is  left  for  us  without  our  own  united  virtuous  ex- 
ertion. 

"  We  therefore  again  thank  you,  sir,  for  your  solemn  and 
repeated  calls  on  the  proper  departments  to  make  the  most 
speedy  and  effectual  provision  against  the  worst  events;  — 
for  your  firm  resolution  that  you  will  never  surrender  the  in- 
dependence or  essential  interests  of  the  country ;  —  and  for 
summoning  the  people  to  unite  with  you  in  supplicating  the 
direction  and  blessing  of  that  Almighty  Being,  under  whose 
patronage,  if  not  criminal  ourselves,  we  have  nothing  to  fear 
from  any  power  on  earth.  In  the  same  resolution,  we  hold 
it  to  be  our  duty,  with  that  of  every  American,  cordially  to 
concur. 

"  Every  attempt  to  detach  us  from  our  government,  which 
is  the  work  of  our  own  hands,  and  from  whence  we  have 
already  derived  blessings  far  surpassing  the  highest  expecta- 
tions of  its  warmest  admirers,  we  repel  with  indignation. 
To  abandon  such  a  government,  and  the  invaluable  privi- 

9 


98  MEMOIROF 

leges,  civil  and  religious,  enjoyed  under  it,  from  any  consid- 
eration whatever,  would  be  acting  a  part  unworthy  the  de- 
scendants of  our  renowned  ancestors,  bring  indelible  in- 
famy on  ourselves,  be  an  act  of  treachery  to  our  posterity, 
and  betray  the  basest  ingratitude  to,  and  distrust  of,  that 
Supreme  Being,  who  gave  us  these  blessings. 

"  With  an  humble  reliance  therefore  on  this  Being,  whom 
we  do,  and  ever  will,  acknowledge  as  the  Arbiter  of  nations ; 
and  confiding  in  the  wisdom,  patriotism,  and  firmness  of  the 
constituted  authorities  of  our  country,  we  are  determined,  at 
every  hazard,  to  support  those  measures  which  they  shall  pre- 
scribe for  the  defence  of  these  blessings." 

The  cordial  and  very  complimentary  reply  of  the 
President  to  this  letter,  —  which  breathes  alike  the 
spirit  of  patriotism  and  of  religion,  —  is  interesting 
not  only  as  showing  his  gratification  in  being  thus  ad- 
dressed, but  his  large  indebtedness  to  the  diction  of 
the  address,  for  the  very  language  of  his  answer.  We 
copy  it,  as  entered  at  large  upon  the  town  records. 

[To  the  Freeholders  and  other  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Andover,  in  the 
State  of  Massachusetts.] 

"  GENTLEMEN,  —  Your  address,  unanimously  adopted  at  a 
legal  and  very  full  meeting,  has  been  presented  to  me  by 
your  Representative  in  Congress,  Mr.  Bartlett,  and  received 
with  great  pleasure.  When  you  acknowledge  in  my  admin- 
istration wisdom,  vigilance,  integrity,  patriotism,  and  perse- 
vering solicitude  to  preserve  to  these  States  the  blessings  of 
peace  and  neutrality,  upon  such  terms  as  would  consist  with 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  99 

the  preservation  of  our  essential  rights  and  interests,  you 
command  my  sincere  gratitude. 

"  The  unfriendly  designs  and  unreasonable  demands  of 
that  government,  whom  we  have  been  unwilling  to  conclude 
our  enemy,  have  been  long  suspected  by  many,  upon  very 
probable  grounds  ;  but  never  so  clearly  avowed  and  demon- 
strated as  of  late.  May  the  discovery  prove  the  essential 
means  of  our  political  salvation. 

"  The  conviction  appears  now  to  be  nearly  universal,  that 
no  hope  of  safety  is  left  for  us,  without  our  own  virtuous 
exertions. 

"  The  indignation  with  which  you  repel  every  attempt  to 
detach  you  from  that  government,  which  is  the  work  of  your 
own  hands,  and  from  whence  you  have  derived  blessings  far 
surpassing  the  highest  expectations  of  its  warmest  admirers ; 
and,  in  short,  all  the  sentiments  of  this  excellent  address,  do 
you  great  honor. 

"JOHN   ADAMS. 

"PHILADELPHIA,  May  25th,  1798." 

At  the  very  time  of  the  date  of  this  letter,  the  as- 
pect of  affairs  had  become  so  threatening,  that  Con- 
gress authorized  the  President  to  raise  a  provisional 
army  without  delay,  and  a  few  weeks  later,  General 
Washington  was  appointed  Lieutenant-General  and 
Commander-in-Chief.  The  old  ^Revolutionary  fire  was 
kindled  in  all  hearts.  A  letter  from  Judge  Phillips  to 
his  son,  at  this  time,  shows  that  even  he,  the  life-long 
civilian,  had  determined  to  serve  personally  in  the 
army,  and  to  encourage  his  only  son  to  volunteer  also, 


100  MEMOIR    OF 

if  the  exigency  should  require  it;  so  deeply  did  he 
feel  the  peril  of  his  country.  "  No  time,"  he  writes 
August  3d,  1798,  "ought  to  be  lost  in  providing  your- 
self and  me  with  arms  and  accoutrements  complete ; 
the  prospect  of  our  needing  them  increases ;  it  would 
not  be  very  surprising  to  me,  if  we  should  be  called 
on  to  use  them  much  sooner  than  is  generally  ex- 
pected." It  was  not  a  mere  profession  of  patriotism 
in  words,  which  he  addressed  to  the  Executive,  but 
the  sober  language  of  one  who  meant  to  act  as  well 
as  to  speak. 

The  son,  too,  was  animated  by  the  same  spirit.  "We 
cannot  forbear  to  quote  a  few  paragraphs  from  an 
oration  delivered  by  him  in  Charlestown  at  this  pe- 
riod :  — 


"  Americans  !  The  present  is  a  momentous  crisis !  To  the 
present  actors  on  the  stage  is  assigned  the  arduous  and  hon- 
orable task  to  determine  whether  man  is  capable  of  a  Re- 
publican Government,  or  must  ever  be  the  passive  subject  of 
arbitrary  power.  .  .  .  After  sustaining  aggressions  and  depre- 
dations unprecedented,  with  a  forbearance  and  longsuffering 
which  have  encouraged  the  enemy  to  add  insult  to  rapine ; 
after  reiterated  attempts  at  explanation  and  accommodation, 
with  a  condescension  and  patience  that  have  wellnigh  ex- 
cited their  contempt ;  every  question  about  the  justice  of  our 
cause  is  solved,  and  the  only  alternative  is  submission  or  re- 
sistance. 

"  Are  not  a  commerce,  the  source  of  our  wealth  and  glory ; 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  101 

a  liberty,  purchased  in  fields  of  blood ;  a  constitution,  the 
fortress  of  our  safety,  worthy  to  be  defended  ?  Shall  we  be- 
hold freedom,  humanity,  virtue,  public  faith,  morality,  and 
religion  trampled  in  the  dust,  and  by  our  silence  and  inac- 
tion, become  accessories  to  the  crime  ?  Rather  let  us  sprinkle 
the  mountains,  and  crimson  the  waves  with  our  most  precious 
blood! 

"  We  have  before  our  eyes  those  statesmen  and  warriors, 
who  have  acted  a  conspicuous  part  in  conducting  us  through 
the  Revolution,  whose  heads  are  silvered  in  their  country's 
service,  who  anxiously  mark  what  estimate  their  SONS  place 
on  the  inheritance  purchased  for  them,  and  are  ready  to  lead 
them  once  more  to  victory  or  death.  At  the  head  of  a  host 
of  experienced  heroes,  stands  the  man  acknowledged  by  the 
oldest  general  in  Europe  to  be  the  greatest  general  in  the 
world;  the  beloved,  the  revered,  the  illustrious  WASHINGTON 
still  lives ;  and,  at  his  country's  call,  has  again  unfurled  the 
banners  of  freedom ;  has  already,  as  with  electric  fire,  inspired 
with  redoubled  ardor  every  American  breast;  and  will  con- 
found with  dismay  the  hearts  of  our  enemies.  Under  such 
a  leader,  no  American  will  refuse  to  become  a  soldier,  and 
no  soldier  will  dare  to  be  a  coward." 

The  crisis,  however,  was  a  bloodless  one.  This  uni- 
versal determination  to  maintain  our  neutrality  at  all 
hazards,  convinced  the  French  authorities  of  their 
mistake,  if  not  of  their  injustice ;  and  negotiation, 
after  repeated  failures,  finally  terminated  in  a  treaty 
of  peace. 


102  MEMOIR     OF 

In  Judge  Phillips's  career  as  a  civilian,  only  one  other 
point  now  remains  to  be  noticed.  It  has  already  been 
stated,  that  for  many  years  his  friends  had.  in  consid- 
erable numbers,  voted  for  him  as  Governor  or  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor in  the  canvass  for  State  officers. 

At  the  election  in  April,  1801,  his  name  was,  by 
general  consent,  placed  upon  the  ticket  of  the  Feder- 
alists for  Lieutenant-Governor,  with  that  of  Caleb 
Strong  for  Governor ;  and,  although  the  contest  be- 
tween the  two  parties  was  spirited,  these  candidates 
were  elected  by  a  large  vote.  In  Andover,  Judge 
Phillips  polled  a  larger  vote  by  far  than  had  been 
thrown  for  any  previous  candidate,  and  much  larger 
than  was  cast  for  the  able  and  popular  Governor. 

We  have  chanced  to  obtain  a  copy  of  a  private 
letter  inclosing  a  confidential  circular,  prepared  with  a 
view  to  secure  his  election,  which  incidentally  discloses 
his  own  feeling  and  that  of  his  friends  at  the  time.  "It 
is  well  understood,"  they  say,  "  that  Mr.  Phillips  will  not 
decline,  though  he  is  incapable  of  soliciting  the  office ; " 
and  they  now  recount,  in  glowing  terms,  his  many  pub- 
lic services,  together  with  the  traits  of  character  which 
he  had  exhibited  in  them  all,  as  presenting  the  strong- 
est possible  plea  for  his  election.  a  Those  who  were 
witnesses  to  his  conduct,"  in  the  Revolution,  they  urge, 
-  can  testify,  whether  any  honest  exertions  in  his 
power  were  ever  spared  by  night  or  by  day,  for  at- 
taining the  object  of  that  conflict;"  then  glancing  at 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  103 

his  career  in  the  Constitutional  Convention  and  in  the 
General  Court,  they  say  of  him  as  President  of  the 
Senate,  "the  members  of  that  Honorable  Board  can 
testify  with  what  punctuality,  assiduity,  fidelity,  impar- 
tiality, and  despatch,  he  has  discharged  the  duties  of 
that  office ; "  and  in  conclusion,  they  add,  "  that  his  uni- 
form practice  has  been  to  make  his  private  concerns 
give  place  to  his  public  duties." 

Coming  to  this  honorable  station  with  these  grati- 
fying antecedents,  and  associated  in  the  executive 
department  now  with  a  Governor  and  Council  of  dis- 
tinguished ability,  he  adorned  the  office  which  thence- 
forth became  associated  with  his  name. 

But  though  so  long  engaged  in  the  public  service, 
under  such  a  variety  of  civic  cares,  which  occupied  his 
time  and  tasked  his  energies,  he  was  not  wholly  a  pub- 
lic man;  and  we  must  now  return,  to  follow  him 
through  other  less  conspicuous,  but  not  less  useful 
scenes,  that  may  give  us  a  nearer  and  more  full  in- 
sight into  his  character. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

HIS  ENTERPRISES   AND   PURSUITS  AS   A  MAN   OF   BUSINESS. 

WHEN  his  admiring  friends  tell  us  "  that  his  uniform 
practice  has  been  to  make  his  private  concerns  give 
place  to  his  public  duties,"  they  state  the  exact  truth ; 
for  no  man  was  more  ready  than  he  to  forego  all  per- 
sonal advantage  in  order  to  benefit  the  community, 
and  none  was  ever  apparently  less  ambitious  than  he 
of  public  distinction.  Yet,  to  infer  from  this,  or  from 
any  thing  which  has  been  said  of  his  eager  and  mani- 
fold devotion  to  the  general  good,  that  his  private 
affairs  suffered  disastrously  in  consequence,  or  that  he 
had  no  careful  oversight  of  them,  and  no  marked  in- 
terest in  them,  would  be  a  great  mistake.  It  is  true 
that  very  few  men,  with  such  constant  public  engage- 
ments, would  have  found  time  to  prosecute  important 
private  enterprises  systematically  ;  but  in  just  this 
respect  he  was  an  uncommon  man.  "  In  every  pur- 
suit," says  Knapp,1  "  he  was  distinguished  for  prompt- 
ness, punctuality,  and  practical  good-sense  ;  and  his 
short  life,  by  order,  exactness,  and  method,  was  filled 

1  Marshal  Soult's  Journal,  p.  103. 

(104) 


MEMOIR    OF    JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  105 

with  incredible  attentions  to  business."  There  was 
not,  in  fact,  a  year  of  all  his  crowded  civil  labors, 
much  as  they  demanded  of  his  time  and  strength  in 
preparing  for  them  and  performing  them,  in  which  he 
had  less  private  engagements  on  his  hands  than  most 
men  of  mere  business. 

It  would  be  of  little  interest  for  us,  of  this  genera- 
tion, to  trace  out  the  details  of  his  different  enter- 
prises, but  enough  may  be  seen  at  a  glance  to  verify 
this  statement.  In  addition  to  his  effective  coopera- 
tion with  his  father,  in  various  affairs,  soon  after  leav- 
ing College,  he  became  at  an  early  period  the  pur- 
chaser of  several  estates  on  his  own  account,  which 
made  him  an  extensive  farmer ;  and  the  tradition  is, 
that  there  was  not  in  all  the  region  a  better  farmer 
than  he.  His  lands  were  constantly  improving  under 
his  hand,  and  yet  in  a  high  degree,  not  only  produc- 
tive, but  remunerative,  although  cultivated  entirely 
by  hired  labor. 

He  was  hardly  settled  in  life,  too,  it  will  be  remem 
bered,  when  in  the  public  crisis,  he  with  so  much  tact 
and  energy  undertook  the  manufacture  of  powder  in 
large  quantities,  not  relinquishing  the  business  till  i1 
had  well  repaid  him,  and  the  occasion  for  it  had  passed 
away,  and  not  in  the  least  impeded  by  it  in  his  agri- 
cultural pursuits.  In  connection  with  his  powder-mill, 
a  grist-mill  also  was  for  a  considerable  period  run  by 


106  MEMOIR    OF 

him,  and  a  saw-mill,  and  finally  a  paper-mill ;  over  all 
of  which  he  exercised  such  supervision,  as  to  know 
their  condition  accurately,  and  obtain  a  revenue  from 
them.  The  paper-mill,  especially,  became,  for  a  tune, 
a  leading  branch  of  his  business. 

At  the  same  time  he  owned  and  superintended  two 
stores,  one  near  his  residence  in  And  over,  and  another 
in  Methuen ;  and  those  who  served  him  in  them  felt 
that,  while  he  was  not  unreasonably  distrustful  or  in- 
quisitive, his  practised  eye  was  upon  every  part  of  the 
business,  and  his  scores  of  questions  ever  and  anon 
must  be  satisfactorily  answered. 

By  various  negotiations,  too,  at  different  periods,  he 
obtained  possession  of  large  tracts  of  wild  land  in 
Maine  and  New  Hampshire,  amounting  in  all  to  about 
three  thousand  acres,  which  frequently  required  his 
care;  while  upon  his  various  estates  in  Andover,  he 
superintended  the  erection  or  repair  of  numerous 
buildings,  including  his  own  mansion-house,  —  the 
materials  for  which  were  drawn  chiefly  from  his 
timber  lands  in  New  Hampshire. 

In  consequence  of  these  numerous  engagements  in 
business,  which  centred  in  Andover,  while  his  duties 
as  judge  and  senator  kept  him  very  much  from  home, 
he  was  in  the  habit  of  making  frequent  journeys,  espe- 
cially from  Boston  to  Andover,  and  usually  in  the 
night,  on  horseback,  from  which,  neither  his  frail 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  107 

health,  nor  the  urgency  of  his  friends,  could  dissuade 
him.  Sometimes  in  the  darkness  he  missed  his  way, 
and  did  not  reach  home  till  nearly  morning.  Often, 
through  weariness,  he  slept  in  his  saddle,  and  was 
awakened  only  by  the  sudden  stopping  or  starting  of 
his  horse. 

Late  in  the  winter  of  1794,  in  one  of  these  night 
excursions,  he  fell  from  his  horse  and  fractured  his 
leg ;  but  fortunately,  he  had  a  riding  companion,  and 
was  near  the  residence  of  his  friend,  Mr.  Brooks,  in 
Medford,  where  he  was  immediately  carried. 

The  instant  his  accident  was  known  to  Mr.  Brooks's 
family,  their  negro  servant  hastily  dressed  himself, 
hurried  off  with  a  sleigh  to  the  spot,  lifted  Judge  Phil- 
lips into  the  conveyance,  and  when  they  reached  the 
house,  took  him  in  his  arms  and  bore  him  carefully  in, 
showing,  in  every  motion,  the  greatest  alacrity  and 
tenderness.  "What  makes  you  so  eager  to  help  the 
Judge  ?  "  he  was  asked.  "  Help  him ! "  was  the  reply, 
"  I  'd  like  to  do  any  thing  for  him ;  he  always  touches 
his  hat  to  me  when  he  goes  ly  here." 

This  disaster,  convinced  him  at  last  of  his  mistake 
in  so  exposing  himself.  The  fracture  did  not  prove  to 
be  a  severe  one.  A  few  weeks  of  confinement,  in 
which  Madam  Phillips  and  his  cousin,  Miss  Sally  Phil- 
lips,1 were  alternately  with  him,  ensued ;  and  then,  long 

1  Married  afterwards  to  Deacon  Mark  Newman. 


108  MEMO  IB    OF 

before  he  could  lay  aside  his  crutches,  he  was  busy  at 
his  work  again  in  the  Senate  and  at  home.  But  an- 
other and  more  disastrous  consequence  of  his  ill-timed 
journeys,  was  already  becoming  apparent.  His  friends 
saw  with  deep  pain,  that  his  exposures  were  hastening 
toward  a  crisis  the  general  debility  under  which  he 
labored,  and  especially  a  chronic  asthma,  which  had 
now  become  exceedingly  distressing  to  him.  In  fact, 
many  supposed  that  the  foundation  of  this  disease 
was  laid  in  these  very  imprudences.  When  it  was 
too  late,  therefore,  he  yielded  to  their  entreaties,  and 
spared  himself;  but  through  his  whole  life,  his  aptitude 
for  business  of  every  kind,  and  his  interest  in  it,  were 
such  as  to  insure  the  full  success  of  any  enterprise  in 
which  he  engaged,  however  remote  apparently  from 
all  his  usual  tastes  and  toils  it  might  be. 

Much  of  all  that  he  did,  in  carrying  on  his  various 
private  enterprises,  was  effected  by  correspondence 
chiefly.  His  letters  to  his  son  and  others  on  business, 
of  which  we  have  examined  large  numbers,  evince 
great  sagacity  and  forecast,  with  the  minutest  atten- 
tion to  details,  and  a  habit  of  applying  principles  of 
taste,  or  science,  or  political  economy,  or  patriotism,  or 
Christian  morality,  to  one  and  another  branch  of  his 
affairs,  which  any  man  might  safely  imitate. 

The  fruit  of  so  much  tact  and  effort  was  an  ample 
estate,  accumulated  by  his  own  hands,  besides  the 
liberal  patrimony  which  he  finally  inherited  from  his 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  109 

father,  and  the  ample  fortune  of  Madam  Phillips  in 
her  own  right  ;l  and  with  such  a  family  as  his,  who  had 
both  witnessed  and  shared  his  successful  efforts  in  so 
many  branches,  of  business,  his  property  added  largely 
to  the  attractions  and  enjoyments  of  his  honored  man- 
sion, as  the  scene  of  his  own  domestic  life,  and  of  his 
fitting  hospitalities  toward  others,  to  which  we  will 
now  pass. 

1  Exclusive  of  the  portion  of  Madam  Phillips,  the  estate  of  Judge 
Phillips,  as  inventoried  by  the  appraisers  and  administrator,  amounted, 
at  his  decease,  to  nearly  $150,000  ;  a  large  proportion  of  the  prop- 
erty being  valuable  real  estate,  in  Andover  and  elsewhere. 


10 


CHAPTER   IX. 

HIS   DOMESTIC   AND    SOCIAL   LIFE. 

WE  have  already  alluded  to  the  embarrassments 
connected  with  his  early  marriage.  It  was  a  some- 
what inauspicious  commencement  of  his  household 
history ;  for  though  coment  to  his  marriage  was  fully 
given,  several  years  elapsed  before  it  was  heartily  ap- 
proved by  his  parents.  But  the  brilliant  and  yet  solid 
virtues  of  their  new  daughter,  blended  with  the  mild 
but  commanding  demeanor  of  their  son,  "like  apples 
of  gold  in  pictures  of  silver,"  gradually  won  them  over 
to  the  heartiest  satisfaction.  For  nearly  four  years 
the  two  families  lived  virtually  as  one,  in  contiguous 
dwellings,  and  for  a  portion  of  the  period  under  the 
same  roof,  in  daily  contact  and  sympathy,  and  en- 
gaged, much  of  the  time,  in  joint  labors. 

But  the  plans  of  the  son  soon  led  him  to  remove 
from  the  old  homestead,  with  the  entire  concurrence 
of  his  father.  He  was  already,  as  we  have  seen, 
serving  his  native  place  as  town  clerk  and  treasurer. 
His  fellow-citizens  had  elected  him  to  the  Provincial 
Congress.  He  had  snatched  an  interval  in  which  he 

(HO) 


MEMOIR     OF     JUDGE    PHILLIPfc.  Ill 

could  be  absent  without  blame,  to  hurry  homeward 
in  mid-winter,  and  set  on  foot  the  powder-mill  enter- 
prise, which  could  be  most  advantageously  located 
in  the  south  village  of  the  town ;  another  long 
cherished  scheme,  too,  the  founding  of  an  Academy, 
was  fast  maturing  now  in  his  mind,  and,  after  some 
unavailing  efforts  to  perfect  this  satisfactorily  in  his 
native  village,  the  prospect  of  greater  success  in  the 
South  Parish  invited  him  to  change  his  residence. 
Indeed,  it  was  this  latter  cause  which  mainly  influ- 
enced him,  as  we  shall  presently  see. 

The  precise  date  of  his  removal  to  the  South  Parish, 
it  has  not  been  found  possible  accurately  to  deter- 
mine, but  it  is  supposed  to  have  been  in  the  spring 
of  1777,  about  six  months  subsequent  to  the  birth  of 
his  son  John;  such  is  the  tradition  in  the  family.  In 
April,  1778,  there  is  positive  evidence,  that  he  was 
already  located  here,  in  the  occupancy  of  a  house 
which  has  since  then  been  invested  with  more  historic 
interest  than  any  other  in  the  village ;  namely,  the 
old  dwelling  on  the  estate  of  George  Abbott,  then 
recently  purchased  with  the  view  of  here  founding 
the  Academy.  To  some  interesting  reminiscences  con- 
nected with  this  house,  there  will  be  occasion  to  refer 
more  particularly  hereafter.  As  connected  merely  with 
the  home  life  of  Mr.  Phillips,  we  need  only  say  of  it, 
that  the  period  of  his  residence  here  was  eminently 
the  type  of  all  his  subsequent  career,  both  public  and 
private. 


112  MEMOIR    OF 

It  was  here  that  Madam  Phillips  began  to  be  left, 
in  her  self-relying  dignity  and  energy,  to  act  as  sole 
head  of  the  family,  in  his  frequent  and  long  absences, 
as  she  was  obliged  to  do  in  all  subsequent  years. 
Here,  his  own  and  her  cheerful  self-denials  and  sacri- 
fices, to  accomplish  great  objects  on  which  their  hearts 
were  set,  first  became  a  part  of  their  daily  experience. 
The  house  could  furnish  no  elegances,  or  even  con- 
veniences, such  as  both  of  them  had  always  enjoyed ; 
yet  they  chose  it,  and  gave  it  at  once  dignity  and 
attractiveness.  Tradition  still  points  us  to  the  western 
window  in  the  attic,  at  which  she  loved  to  sit,  in  his 
absence,  and  gaze  upon  the  extended  landscape  before 
her,  and  lift  up  her  heart  to  the  Heavenly  One  for 
strength  according  to  her  day.  Taste  and  piety  were 
here  cultivated  together. 

It  was  most  fortunate  for  him,  that  in  her  he  had 
found  one  so  willing  to  bear  the  great  family  cares 
and  responsibilities  thrown  upon  her  in  consequence  of 
his  many  absences  and  absorbing  engagements.  This 
she  appears  to  have  cheerfully  done,  not  only  from 
the  strength  of  her  regard  for  him,  but  from  her  deep 
interest  in  the  objects  to  which  he  was  devoted.  We 
have  already  seen  how  ready  she  was  u  to  make  any 
sacrifice,"  if  she  could  thereby  aid  him  in  serving  the 
public ;  with  the  same  high  appreciation  of  his  other 
endeavors,  she  was  daily  not  only  encouraging  him  but 
cooperating  with  him. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  113 

While  he  was  digging  with  his  men  in  the  trenches 
for  his  powder-mill;  she  was  sitting  up,  sometimes  till 
midnight,  to  prepare  lint  and  bandages  for  the  wounded 
soldiers  in  the  army.  When  he  could  not  personally 
be  at  hand  to  inspect  the  work  which  he  had  planned 
on  the  farm  or  elsewhere,  she  received  his  suggestions 
by  letter,  and  saw  that  they  were  carefully  followed. 
If  any  repairs  of  the  house,  or  changes  of  furniture, 
were  to  be  made,  what  he  could  not  be  present  to 
superintend  she  procured  to  be  done  promptly ;  just  as 
before  their  removal  to  the  South  Parish,  she  had  with 
her  own  hand  kept  the  records  for  him  as  town  clerk; 
and  done  not  a  little  of  his  business  for  him  as  town 
treasurer!  We  have  carefully  examined  the  town 
records,  covering  the  period  for  which  he  was  clerk, 
and  find  every  page  written  by  her;  the  marginal 
notes,  or  indices,  only,  being  entered  by  his  pen, 
although  this  was  the  period  in  which  the  town  was 
so  often  acting  upon  revolutionary  questions,  and  the 
records  cover  a  very  large  space. 

The  manner  of  life,  thus  begun,  in  this  their  first 
residence  here,  was  continued  in  the  same  spirit,  when 
after  a  few  years,  this  house  was  relinquished  to  the 
principal  of  the  newly  founded  Academy,  and  they 
removed  to  another,  still  more  retired  and  less  com- 
modious. 

In  this  dwelling,  now  occupied  after  some  material 
improvements  by  Mr.  Moses  Abbott,  the  admiring  friend 

10* 


114  MEMOIR    OF 

of  Judge  Phillips,  and  long  his  confidential  clerk,  the 
family  remained  until  at  last  their  new  and  spacious 
mansion-house  was  erected.  The  aged  mother  of 
Madam  Phillips,  Mrs.  Judge  Foxcroft,  was  now  a  mem- 
ber of  the  family,  and  died  here,  and  here  the  second 
son,  Samuel,  was  born.  The  earliest  recollections  of 
the  family  by  some  now  living,  are  of  their  residence 
in  this  secluded  home,  of  which  Judge  Phillips  obtained 
possession  by  purchasing  the  thirds  of  the  widow  of 
David  Chandler,  the  interest  of  the  heirs  not  being 
included.  It  was  necessarily,  and  intentionally,  doubt- 
less, a  temporary  expedient,  as  we  find  from  deeds  of 
various  lots  purchased  by  him,  that  in  April,  1782,  he 
was  already  preparing  to  erect  a  mansion,  suited  to 
his  taste  and  position. 

With  a  numerous  group  of  relatives,  drawn  toward 
them  by  no  common  attachments;  with  a  wide  and 
rapidly  increasing  circle  of  intimate  friends,  and  gen- 
eral acquaintances  in  his  public  stations,  to  all  of  whom 
they  wished  to  extend  a  generous  hospitality,  it  had 
been  hardly  possible  for  them,  in  any  good  degree,  thus 
far  to  realize  their  ideal  of  social  life.  They  could 
willingly,  year  after  year,  incommode  themselves,  and 
move  from  place  to  place  as  if  dwelling  in  tents ;  but 
to  be  habitually  unable  to  entertain,  in  due  style,  their 
many  valued  friends,  was  a  constant  occasion  of  regret. 

The  building  of  the  mansion-house  was  an  era  in  the 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  .  115 

village,  not  less  than  in  their  family  history.  Planned 
on  a  scale  beyond  any  thing  then  known  in  the  town, 
the  massive  timbers  and  much  of  the  lumber  coming 
from  his  New  Hampshire  lands,  it  was  framed  to  be 
raised  in  sections  in  a  manner  entirely  novel  to  the  cit- 
izens, and  requiring  all  the  force  that  could  be  assem- 
bled; and  the  raising  was  a  memorable  occasion. 
"The  whole  town  was  present,"  says  one  who  was 
there.  When  all  the  preparations  for  raising  the  first 
section  had  been  made,  the  pastor,  Eev.  Mr.  French, 
offered  a  solemn  prayer;  and  then  the  strong  arms 
grasped  the  ropes  and  pikes,  and  all  was  reared  with- 
out accident.  In  due  time  the  stately  edifice  was 
completed ;  the  grounds  were  laid  out ;  the  elms,  in 
front,  were  planted,  Judge  Phillips  setting  most  of 
them  with  his  own  hand ;  and  every  thing  about  the 
premises  was  arranged,  as  the  structure  and  furnishing 
of  the  house  itself  had  been,  upon  a  most  liberal  scale. 
It  was  not  till  the  autumn  of  1785  that  the  house  was 
entirely  finished,  although  it  was  so  far  done,  that  the 
family  moved  into  it  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year 
1782. 

From  this  date,  their  natural  style  of  life  at  home 
commenced,  —  the  style  to  which  they  had  been  born, 
and  for  which  they  were  specially  fitted,  not  more  by 
culture  than  by  their  native  tastes.  The  characteristic 
spirit  of  each  is  now  associated  with  them,  as  seen  in 


116  MEMOIR    OF 

this  house  rather  than  from  any  other  point  of  view. 
The  scholars,  who  recall  him,  think  of  him  as  he  used 
to  meet  them  at  the  south  door  and  impress  some 
timely  hint  upon  their  minds.  The  people  of  the  town 
describe  him  as  they  saw  him  in  one  or  another  room. 
Madam  Phillips  and  the  children  are,  in  like  manner, 
associated  in  their  minds,  and  in  the  memory  of  guests, 
with  this  or  that  apartment,  and  with  their  place  at 
the  table,  or  their  seat  in  the  family  group. 

The  period  through  which  Judge  Phillips  had  now 
passed,  since  his  marriage  in  1773,  had  been  in  the 
highest  degree  exciting.  The  incessant  demands  which 
it  had  made  upon  him  for  the  sacrifice  of  his  home 
society  and  enjoyments,  together  with  his  repeated 
removals  from  house  to  house,  had  not  only  been  a 
severe  self-denial  to  him,  but  a  great  perplexity  to  her. 
In  addition  to  the  double  responsibility  thrown  upon 
her,  by  his  engagements  and  absences,  she  could  not 
be  free  from  anxiety  for  him.  He  was  continually  over- 
tasking himself.  At  times  he  was  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  seat  of  war.  In  June,  1775,  the  Prov- 
incial Congress  had  directed  the  removal  of  the  college 
library  and  apparatus  from  Cambridge  to  Andover, 
under  his  supervision.1  In  a  letter,  without  date, 
written  while  he  was  engaged  in  this  work,  he  says :  — 

"  Half  a  moment  only  is  indulged  to  a  heart  that  is  too 
1  Quincy's  Hist.  H.  U.  Vol.  II.  p.  164-166. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  117 

full   to  open  itself  in   a   short  period Amid  all  the 

terrors  of  battle  I  was  so  busily  engaged  in  Harvard  Library 
that  I  never  even  heard  of  the  engagement,  (I  mean  the 

siege,)  till  it  was  completed We  have  got  near  the 

conclusion  of  that  arduous,  and  I  hope  useful  service.  Mat- 
ters of  so  great  importance  are  constantly  urging,  that  I 
find  myself  impelled  to  control  a  very  urgent  desire  of  see- 
ing my  best  self  this  night." 

To  this  she  replies,  late  in  the  evening  of  the  next 
day:  — 

"  I  am  now  pleasing  myself  with  the  prospect  of  spending 
a  little  time  immediately  with  my  best  friend.  I  wrote  you 
to-day,  't  is  true,  but  what  I  wrote  I  am  uncertain,  as  I  was 
in  the  utmost  agitation,  —  may  you  be  preserved  from  every 
unhappy  circumstance,  exclusive  of  absence  from  your  sin- 
cere friend." 

The  British  were  finally  compelled  to  evacuate  Bos- 
ton, in  March,  1776  ;  and  after  this,  there  was  little 
ground  for  any  such  anxieties  respecting  him. 

In  June,  1778,  he  narrowly  escaped  being  blown  up 
with  his  powder-mill,  when  it  exploded,  and  three  per- 
sons were  killed.  It  was  his  intention  to  go  down  to 
the  mill  from  his  house  that  morning,  early,  and  give 
some  directions,  prior  to  his  leaving  in  the  afternoon 
for  Boston ;  but  a  gentleman  unexpectedly  called  on 
business  at  his  house,  and  detained  him  for  an  hour  or 
two,  and  in  this  interval  the  explosion  took  place. 


118  MEMOIR    OF 

With  deep  gratitude,  both  he  and  his  friends  marked 
this  as  a  signal  interposition  of  Providence  to  shield 
him.1 

It  was  a  part  of  Madam  Phillips's  womanly  nature 
to  be  in  a  high  degree  sensitive  to  every  thing  which 
affected  his  public  character ;  she  was  gratified  —  who 
would  not  have  been  —  when  he  was  promoted  or 
eulogized;  she  shrank  from  the  very  thought  of  his 
being  censured.  A  life-long  solicitude  thus  pressed 
upon  her  spirit,  in  connection  with  the  elections,  the 
parties,  the  acrimonies  of  the  times,  linked  as  his  cher- 
ished name  was  with  them  all  at  some  point  contin- 
ually. 

Yet  with  all  these  checks,  their  home  was  to  both 
the  central  attraction.  To  him  it  was  the  more  glad- 
dening, because  of  his  many  exiles  from  it.  To  her 
it  shone  in  a  new  lustre,  whenever  he  could  return  to 
it.  The  compensatory  law  of  life,  which  brings  bless- 
ing out  of  trial,  if  the  trial  be  borne  aright,  intensified 
and  elevated  their  enjoyments.  The  very  reasons 
which  parted  them  so  much  were  stimulating  in  their 
power.  It  gave  a  richer  tone  to  the  character  of  each, 

1  In  October,  the  General  Court  by  a  Resolve,  requested  Mr. 
Phillips  to  repair  his  mill  without  loss  of  time,  and  made  him  a 
grant  of  £400  in  consideration  of  his  losses,  besides  increasing  for 
ft  time  the  bounty  upon  all  powder  manufactured  by  him,  and  en- 
gaging to  bear  half  the  loss  should  a  similar  disaster  be  again  in- 
curred. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  119 

to  be  thus  enduring  and  acting  for  others'  interests, 
at  the  cost  of  temporarily  sacrificing  their  own. 

Their  correspondence  became,  for  long  periods,  a 
substitute  for  conversation,  both  wielding  a  ready  and 
accurate  pen.  Notwithstanding  her  remarkable  con- 
versational powers,  she  preferred  to  write  rather  than 
to  speak.  Her  "  beloved  pen,"  as  one  of  her  admirers 
has  called  it,  could  best  express  her  feelings.  Her 
fondness  for  writing  was  a  strong  passion,  whether  it 
were  her  own  or  others'  thoughts,  which  would  grace 
the  manuscript.  His  letters  and  other  papers  were 
prepared  with  much  less  facility.  With  her  it  was  an 
exercise  of  spontaneous  taste  and  tact ;  with  him,  it 
was  careful  labor.  One  of  the  peculiarities  of  all  his 
manuscripts,  not  excepting  his  most  familiar  and  con- 
fidential letters,  is  the  careful  revision  which  he  be- 
stowed on  them,  as  shown  in  erasures  and  changes 
without  number.  Of  the  scores  of  letters  written  by 
them  to  each  other,  to  which  we  have  had  access,  there 
is  scarcely  one  from  either  which  will  not  illustrate 
these  characteristics  of  their  style ;  and  from  the  first 
line  to  the  last  in  them  all  on  both  sides,  we  have  been 
surprised  and  gratified  beyond  expression,  not  to  find 
a  word  that  has  detracted  from  our  respect  or  our 
admiration  for  them. 

Their  letters  are  not  in  the  style  of  books  to  be 
printed,  it  is  true ;  if  they  were,  they  would  not  be 
letters.  But  while,  in  a  thousand  ways,  they  let  us 


120  MEMOIR    OF 

into  the  secret  of  their  daily  spirit,  familiarly  and 
freely,  the  individuality  of  each  is  preserved  with  re- 
markable distinctness;  whether  the  subject  of  their 
letters  for  the  time  be  conjugal  sentiment  mainly,  or 
business,  or  the  transient  news  of  the  hour,  or  the  as- 
pect of  public  affairs,  or  some  religious  theme. 

Still,  in  such  family  communications,  incidents  and 
facts  of  every  description  always  find  a  place,  which 
no  one  would  be  expected  to  make  public  ;  even 
though  their  omission  may  be  expedient,  on  no  other 
ground.  We  must  be  content  with  mere  extracts. 

Recalling  them  now  as  installed  in  their  new  man- 
sion, emerging  from  a  long  period  of  anxious  self-denial, 
let  us  listen  to  them  for  a  few  moments,  as  they  move 
along  their  prosperous  and  honored  career.  The  fol- 
lowing extracts  are  taken  from  letters  written  by  him 
at  Boston,  and  from  her  replies :  — 

"  February  9,  1785.  —  I  will  write  one  line  to  my  dear 
friend,  if  it  be  only  to  thank  her  for  the  kind  favor  indulged 

me  by  Mrs.  B ;  I  was  rejoiced  to  find  that  you  did  not 

hesitate  to  say  that  you  was  well,  with  an  emphasis.  .  .  . 
I  am  sorry  you  take  so  much  pains  to  excuse  the  delay  of 
copying  the  constitution.1  ...  I  hope  my  mother  is  still 
with  you,  and  that  she  will  protract  her  visit  as  long  as  she 
can.  Do  give  my  duty  to  her,  and  tell  her  I  think  much  of 
her  advice ;  I  wish  I  may  make  nearer  approaches  daily  to 

1  The  Constitution  of  Phillips  Academy. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  121 

her  wishes,  and  that  I  shall  have  the  advantage  of  that  most 
powerful  argument  to  induce  a  serious  attention  to  my  health ; 
namely,  the  example  of  those  for  whose  society  I  should  be 
most  desirous  of  a  continuance  here.  This  I  hope  will  be 
noted  by  my  best  friend.  .  .  .  Do  be  religiously  attentive  to 
your  eyes,  if  you  love  me. 

"  With  the  tenderest  attachment, 

"  S.  P.  JR." 

"  February  18,  1785.  —  Between  twelve  and  one  o'clock, 
the  Governor  took  his  leave  of  the  General  Court  in  form  ; 
the  ceremony  was  in  the  Representatives'  room  ;  but  after  a 
message  had  gone  to  acquaint  his  Excellency  that  the  Leg- 
islature were  ready  to  receive  him,  a  flutter  ensued,  which 
well  nigh  brought  us  into  a  disagreeable  situation  indeed. 
After  the  above-mentioned  joint  message,  the  House  sent 
one  to  the  Senate,  informing  that  the  body  of  seats  in  the 
south-west  part  of  their  chamber  would  be  assigned  to  the 
Senate ;  (now  the  seats  they  had  usually  taken  were  the  front 
seats,  on  the  right  and  left  of  the  chair).  The  Senate,  after 
two  or  three  propositions  being  made  and  rejected  in  a  hurry, 
returned  an  answer  to  the  House,  that  they  did  not  agree  to 
the  proposal  of  the  House  respecting  seats,  but  would  take 
those  which  had  been  usually  assigned  them,  or  would  accent" 
modate  themselves. 

"  Another  message  was  soon  returned,  informing  that  the 
House  had  previously  reconsidered  their  proposition  before 
made,  and  voted  to  assign  the  usual  seats ;  the  two  Houses 
then  met.  The  Governor  soon  appeared,  preceded  by  the 
sheriff,  supported  under  one  arm  by  the  Messenger  of  the 
Governor  and  Council,  and  succeeded  by  his  Council  and  a 

11 


122  MEMOIR    OF 

number  of  spectators,  and  was  introduced  by  the  President 
and  Speaker  to  the  Chair ;  then  all  sat  down ;  after  remain- 
ing seated  a  few  minutes  and  the  Governor  had  refreshed 
himself  with  some  reviving  drops,  he  arose,  and,  addressing 
the  President  and  Senate,  the  Speaker  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, told  them  the  design  of  that  meeting;  thanked 
them  and  the  people  whom  they  '  so  worthily  govern,'  for 
all  their  kindness ;  that  however  unfortunate  he  had  been 
in  the  execution  of  the  various  important  offices  to  which 
he  had  been  elected,  he  was  conscious  that  he  had  been  uni- 
formly actuated  by  the  sincerest  intentions  to  serve  them ; 
that  his  health  made  it  his  indispensable  duty  to  retire  for 
the  present,  but  if  he  should  ever  be  able  to  render  them 
further  service,  he  should  be  ready  to  afford  it;  then,  after 
addressing  himself  to  the  Lieutenant- Governor,  whom  the 
Constitution  assigned  to  the  chair  as  his  successor,  and 
wishing  his  administration  might  be  easy  to  himself  and 
happy  to  the  people,  he  addressed  the  executive  and  leg- 
islative branches,  with  the  heads  of  each  separately;  and 
wished  them  the  smiles  of  Heaven  here,  and  that  they 
might  be  introduced  'to  characters  of  honor'  hereafter." 

« June  28,  1785.  .  .  .  After  this  week,  I  hope  to  take 
some  burden  from  your  shoulders ;  the  court  are  determined 
to  meet  at  eight  in  the  morning,  and  last  night  they  sat  till 
after  eight  in  the  evening ;  you  will,  therefore,  send  a  horse 
on  Friday  to  Swan's  on  the  neck,  for  your  affectionate  hus- 
band, "  S.  PHILLIPS,  JR." 

"  October  28, 1785.  —  Not  a  word  more  about  the  new  pro- 
fessorship, saving  some  conversation  that  took  place  at  club, 
at  Cambridge,  last  Sabbath  evening ;  our  brother  offered  to 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  123 

pledge  himself  that  neither  my  father  or  I  would  ask  him 
to  tarry,  if  he  should  choose  to  remove.  ...  I  hope  my  father 
tarries  with  you  night  as  well  as  day ;  travelling  back  and 
forth  morning  and  evening,  must  be  considerable  addition  to 
his  toil,  and  he  is  wanted  as  much  at  those  seasons  as  any. 
I  hope  the  little  sons  are  well,  and  that  they  do  n't  haunt 
their  mamma  as  sometimes  ;  give  my  love  to  them,  with  a  kiss 
for  the  younger,  and  tell  him,  if  he  intends  to  have  one  from 
his  papa  when  he  comes  home,  he  must  let  me  hear  a  good 
account  of  him." 

«  October  28,  1785.—  ...  I  can't  content  myself  without 
catching  a  moment  in  the  hurry  of  Senate  to  acknowledge 
your  kind  favor  by  Thornton,  though  it  is  pretty  plain  from 
the  appearance  of  your  letter,  that  you  are  too  much  pressed 
with  care  and  business  for  your  health,  comfort,  and  useful- 
ness, all  of  which  we  are  bound  to  consult  by  the  duty  we 
owe  to  God,  our  country,  our  family,  our  neighbors,  and  our- 
selves ;  .  .  .  hope  to  see  you  to-morrow,  and  to  try  the  effect 
of  personal  solicitations  for  a  visit  to  Boston/' 

"  November  18,  1785.  —  I  am  very  happy  that  things  go 
on  so  smoothly  with  the  new  neighbors ;  may  every  agree- 
able circumstance  continue,  and  every  bright  scene  grow 

brighter  and  brighter Love  to  our  children,  and  duty 

to  parents.  No  farther  light  yet  from  any  quarter  respecting 
the  newly  elected  Professor ;  I  rejoice  exceedingly  that  your 
mind  is  in  so  agreeable  a  state  relating  to  that  matter." 

"March  2,  1786.  —  Mr.  Bingham  had  better  attend  the 
Academy  only  as  health  will  permit,  though  it  should  be 
but  half  the  time,  than  to  overdo  and  render  himself  unable 
to  attend  at  all. 

"  Your  parting  with  Mr.  Pearson  will  be,  or  ha*  been,  a 


124  MEMOIR     OF 

grievous  one,  but  perhaps  the  parting  will  not  be  a  final  one, 

and  that  all  your  good  days  are  not  over When  you 

can  without  too  much  inconvenience,  do  let  me  hear  from 
you.  Adieu,  your  most  affectionate 

«  S.  P.  JR." 

"  March  23,  1786.  —  I  thank  my  dear  friend  for  her  favor 
by  our  good  neighbor ;  it  must  be  something  very  extraordi- 
nary to  prevent  my  being  at  home  on  Saturday.  Your  ac- 
count of  the  smoke  and  cold 1  with  which  our  friends  have 
been  visited,  is  very  gloomy ;  such  an  evil  must  be  remedied 
by  some  means  or  other,  —  I  should  propose  one,  if  I  did 
not  expect  to  be  at  home  before  any  alteration  would  prob- 
ably be  made.  —  Cousin  John  I  have  not  seen  this  week,  and 
shall  be  happy  to  deliver  your  message  ;  advice  from  you 
will  have  great  weight  with  him,  though  by  no  means  so 
great  as  it  would  if  received  immediately  from  your  own 
pen  or  lips;  often  have  I  wished  that  an  epistolary  inter- 
course was  to  take  place  between  you  and  some  of  our  most 
promising  young  gentlemen,  after  they  have  left  us.  I  firmly 
believe  such  a  measure  would,  in  many  cases,  be  a  happy 
security  from  vice,  and  would  be  the  means  of  very  useful 
improvements  ;  and  this,  not  only  from  the  letters  themselves, 
but  those  letters  and  that  correspondence  would  be  a  pow- 
erful incentive  to  improvements  in  knowledge,  solid  and 
ornamental ;  for  I  am  very  confident  that  a  desire  of  appear- 
ing to  advantage  with  the  other  sex  will  oftentimes  influence 
minds,  that  are  unmoved  by  other  considerations ;  but  I  must 
run,  after  I  have  assured  you  of  the  ardent  affection  of  your 
an  worthy  husband.  S.  P.  JR." 

1  In  the  Academy. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  125 

"  June  2,  1786.  —  Mr.  Ward  well  is  so  kind  as  to  give  me 
an  opportunity  to  convey  a  line  to  you,  which  will  not  be 
unacceptable,  if  it  only  serves  to  evidence  that  my  attention 
is  employed  upon  an  object  whose  distance  does  not  remove 

the  power  of  attraction Have  you  employed  Dinah 

yet,  and  will  you  do  it  ?  by  your  conduct  in  this  instance,  I 
shall  judge  of  your  regard  for  my  enjoyment,  for  as  you 
lately  said,  actions  speak  louder  than  words.  Please  to  ten- 
der duty,  love,  regards,  etc.,  as  due,  and  believe  me  to  be  in 
sincerity  yours  in  the  bonds  of  genuine  affection. 

«  S.  P.  JR." 


Such  expressions  of  his  watchful  solicitude  for  her 
happiness  in  the  arrangements  at  their  home,  are  con- 
stantly occurring  in  his  letters,  while  she  as  uniformly 
manifested  a  deep  interest  in  the  great  public  exigen- 
cies which  occupied  his  thoughts.  Often  her  replies, 
in  the  correspondence,  adverted  to  some  such  topic, 
more  than  to  incidents  of  family  or  personal  interest ; 
so  that  while  involved  in  his  manifold  public  cares,  he 
was  never  oppressed  with  the  feeling  that  she  would 
have  him  leave  them  for  her  sake. 

Indeed,  the  predominant  tone  of  her  letters  has 
seemed  to  us,  in  this  respect,  not  less  remarkable  than 
his.  He  writes  little  of  the  times,  or  of  measures  to 
meet  them,  or  even  of  his  own  part  in  public  affairs,  — 
but  more  of  the  kindnesses  shown  him  by  his  friends, 
and  of  the  pains  he  has  taken  to  find  some  rare  article 
to  send  her,  and  of  some  uneasiness  which  he  feels,  lest 


126  MEMOIR    OF 

she  should  suffer  from  inadequate  servants  or  excess 
of  company.  She  touches  upon  all  such  matters  lightly, 
and  pours  out  the  fear,  the  hope,  the  prayer  of  her 
generous  heart  for  the  suffering,  distracted  country, 
and  for  his  welfare  in  its  service. 

Among  her  letters,  we  find  one  without  date,  which 
appears  to  have  been  written  in  the  autumn  of  1786, 
from  which  we  copy  a  few  paragraphs :  — 

"  I  find  Mr.  Holbrook  is  going  to  Boston  in  the  morning, 
and  as  you  mentioned  my  writing,  (which  looks  as  if  it  gave 
you  pleasure  to  hear  from  me  in  this  way,)  I  throw  aside  my 
tatterdemalions  a  few  minutes  to  enjoy  myself;  believe  me 
't  is  the  greatest  pleasure  I  can  have  when  absent  from  you ; 
but  here  a  gloom  strikes  my  mind !  I  almost  wonder  that 
you  can  advert  to  me,  at  such  a  time  of  public  trouble.  I 
think  it  a  pleasing  proof  of  your  affection,  such  a  proof  as  I 

feel  myself  most  sensibly  affected  by Trouble  still  at  the 

westward !  What  will  become  of  us  ?  from  present  appear- 
ances, I  fear  little  ought  we  dare  to  hope  for  better  times. 
....  Surely,  we  have  no  right  to  expect  the  interposition  of 
Heaven  in  our  behalf,  till  we  can  act  from  better  motives. 
You  seem  to  have  some  faith  that  we  shall  see  better  times. 
Heaven  grant  that  we  may ;  that  virtue  may  be  the  pursuit 
of  every  mind ;  that  every  one  may  study  and  be  convinced 
that  the  chief  end  and  happiness  of  man  is  to  glorify  God 

and  enjoy  him  forever Accept   my  best  wishes,  and 

ask  Mrs.  Phillips's  acceptance  of  affectionate  inquiries  after 
her  health ;  love  to  the  family,  —  pray  don't  ride  late  in  the 
evening,  if  you  love  your  best  friend.  Mr.  Pemberton's  re- 
spects to  Judge  Phillips.  PHCEBE." 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  127 

Subsequently  she  writes  to  encourage,  and  yet  re- 
strain him :  — 

"  Do  not  suffer  your  mind  to  be  unduly  engrossed  by  any 
thing;  soon  it  will  be  said  of  us,  that  we  are  gone!  Let 
this  consideration  weigh  with  us,  to  incline  us  to  enjoy  what 
we  can  in  the  line  of  duty,  without  distressing  ourselves  as 
to  the  accomplishment  of  future  scenes.  By  endeavoring  to 
accomplish  too  much,  experience  teaches  us,  we  often  fall  far 
short  of  a  mark  we  might  reach,  if  our  wishes  were  not  ex- 
travagant. I  most  ardently  wish,  my  dear  friend,  that  you 
may  be  so  happy  as  to  obtain  such  direction,  assistance,  and 
support,  as  shall  finally  set  you  above  the  reach  of  all  trouble. 
Do  not  suffer  yourself  to  be  anxious  about  coming  home; 
should  you,  you  may  lay  a  foundation  for  illness,  which  may 
prove  fatal,  for  a  time,  to  your  active  powers.  I  know  there 
is  much  business  to  attend  to  here,  but  it  will  answer  no 
purpose  to  hurry  and  distress  yourself  to  get  home ;  do  en- 
joy what  you  can,  and  take  as  good  care  of  yourself  as  possi- 
ble. All  happiness  attend  you. 

"Yours,  P.  P." 

A  few  months  after  this,  in  reply  to  a  similar  letter, 
he  writes :  — 

"  May  31,  1792.  —  I  thank  you  kindly  for  your  acceptable 
favor  by  Mr.  Pemberton.  I  am  bound  to  gratify  you  if  I 
can  in  return. 

"  As  to  the  transactions  of  yesterday,  the  paper  will  show 
you  the  elections.  What  you  said  and  looked,  determined 
me  before  I  came  from  home  to  accept  the  office  I  had  held, 
if  offered  again,  unless  something  unexpected  should  turn  up 


128  MEMOIR    OF 

to  prevent;  but  had  it  not  been  for  this  determination,  the 
unanimity  and  cordiality  of  my  brethren  would  have  had 
great  weight.  The  sermon  was  excellent  as  well  as  the 
prayer.  The  Governor  gave  me  an  invitation  to  dine,  which 
I  accepted,  and  was  treated  very  politely. 

"  As  the  weather  is  so  exhausting  and  the  family  larger 
than  it  was,  let  me  entreat  you  to  procure  some  other  female 
help,  —  Moses'  sister,  Happy,  or  anybody,  rather  than  none. 
Will  you  be  so  good  as  to  desire  with  freedom  the  attend- 
ance of  Betsy  Whitwell?  If  you  will  gratify  me  in  these 
matters,  you  will  lay  me  under  additional  obligations  to 
gratify  you  in  your  requests  respecting  my  health. 

"  Your  affectionate  friend,  S.  P." 

Toward  the  close  of  the  succeeding  General  Court, 
under  date  of  "February  13,  1794,"  he  says:  — 

"  I  was  much  obliged  by  your  favor  by  Mr.  Abbott,  and 
for  the  opportunity  you  gave  me  of  presenting  your  acknowl- 
edgments to  my  aunt.  I  presume  my  uncle  has  been  made 
acquainted  with  and  gratified  by  the  contents,  as  he  has 
been  more  than  commonly  cheerful  and  pleasant  since  their 
receipt ;  although  he  preserves  so  uniform  an  appearance 
of  good-humor  that  I  have  not  seen  the  resemblance  of  a 
frown  since  I  first  came  down.  I  was  also  pleased  with 
our  little  son's  remembrance  of  my  aunt,  and  with  the  hand- 
some manner  in  which  he  expressed  his  acknowledgments. 
He  must  have  had  the  aid  of  some  good  friend,  and  such 
he  will  never  want  while  he  retains  the  disposition  which  he 
now  discovers.  Knowing  how  much  you  enjoy  in  Miss  Sally, 
you  will  hardly  thank  me  for  dispossessing  you  of  her  on 
Saturday  eve.  .  .  .  As  she  sometimes  inquires  for  news, 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  129 

when  people  go  from  below,  I  hardly  know  what  to  say  — 
unless  that  the  Prince  went  to  Cambridge  to-day  with  Mr. 
Russell  to  visit  the  College,  —  that  he  did  not  go  to  the 
theatre  on  Monday  night,  though  the  public  papers  an- 
nounced to  us  that  he  would  be  there  —  that  the  House 
have  voted  to  impeach  William  Hunt,  Esq.,  in  which  case 
a  solemn  trial  will  be  had  before  the  Senate  —  that  Mr. 
Kirkland  has  united  a  pair  in  the  bonds  of  matrimony, 
though  he  remains  single  and  disengaged  —  and  that,  now 
'  Governor  Hancock  is  dead,'  and  Lieut.  Gov.  Adams  has 
made  a  speech,  the  two  Houses  cannot  agree  on  an  answer  to 
it.  A  detail  of  General  Court  proceedings  would  not,  it  is 
presumed,  afford  much  gratification. 

"  Please  to  present  the  book,  herewith  sent,  to  Miss  Sally. 
"  Yours,  in  sincerity, 

"  S.  PHILLIPS." 

A  few  weeks  later  the  Judge  writes  from  his  con- 
finement  in  Medford,  of  which  we  have  spoken  in 
the  preceding  chapter:  — 

"  April  16,  1794.  —  Mr.  Abbott  has  been  waiting  while  I 
have  been  writing  on  necessary  business,  and  left  me  only 
time  to  tell  you  that  I  am  as  well  in  health  as  usual,  (I 
was  going  to  say,  for  Miss  Sally  and  Moses  have  got  into 
so  high  a  gale,  that  I  hardly  know  what  I  write,)  —  it  is 
more  doubtful  what  particular  day  I  shall  go  up  than  it  was 
yesterday ;  not  that  my  leg  is  worse,  but  we  receive  many 
cautions  about  going  too  early.  We  are  greatly  pleased 
with  the  idea  of  seeing  you  to-morrow,  and  hope  you  will 


130  MEMOIR    OF 

have  a  comfortable   ride.  .  .  .  Pray  make    my  love  to    the 
children,  and  suitables  to  all  inquiring  friends. 

"  Yours  sincerely  and  affectionately,         S.  P." 

Although  disabled  by  this  casualty  and  but  par- 
tially recovered,  he  does  not  fail,  notwithstanding  the 
anxiety  of  friends,  to  appear  upon  the  bench  at  the 
spring  session  of  the  County  Court.  In  a  letter  dated 
Ipswich,  May  19,  1794,  he  says:  — 

"  On  the  presumption  that  my  best  friend  will  be  willing 
to  hear  from  me,  one  line  is  offered  to  inform  her  that  my 
kind  uncle  conveyed  and  drove  for  me  in  his  phaeton  to 
Major  Perley's,  —  then  I  took  the  chair,  and  arrived  about 
six  o'clock.  The  limb  which  has  given  you  so  much  trouble 
was  not  worried  so  as  to  occasion  me  any  uneasiness  that 
is  worth  mentioning ;  —  had  not  worry  of  mind  prevented, 
my  ride  would  have  been  pleasant ;  —  the  expression  of  your 
countenance  at  our  parting  gave  me  concern.  I  hope  you 
have  not  suffered  so  much  since  as  I  have,  and  that  you  will 
always  enjoy  as  much  superior  happiness  as  you  are  more 
deserving.  Very  affectionately  yours, 

"SAMUEL  PHILLIPS." 

From  his  duties  as  judge,  though  still  by  no  means 
strong  again,  he  hurries  to  his  post  in  the  Senate, 
from  which  he  sends  the  following:  — 

"  June  18,  1794.  —  I  am  much  indebted  to  my  dear  friend 
for  her  favor  by  Esquire  Abbott,  and  am  sorry  you  had 
such  a  puzzle  in  hunting  for  papers,  especially  as  you  met 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  131 

with  so  poor  success ;  however,  I  do  n't  wish  you  to  give 
yourself  further  trouble  on  this  head.  As  to  the  limb,  it  is 
gaining ;  —  the  crutches  are  still  found  very  convenient,  if  no1 
necessary.  I  believe  I  could  walk  with  a  cane,  but  a  fear 
of  meeting  with  the  disaster  which  befell  neighbor  Town 
deters  me.  You  will  conjecture  that  I  have  doubts  about 
seeing  Andover  this  week :  —  it  is  true,  I  have ;  for  the 
court  will  probably  rise  next  week,  and  business  crowds  at 
this  time,  as  usual,  when  the  session  is  approaching  a  close. 
"  Yours,  with  sincere  affection, 

"  S.  PHILLIPS." 

"June  26,  1794.  — Mr.  Abbott  having  hinted  that  there 
is  some  probability  he  shall  leave  town  to-day,  I  must  steal 
a  moment  in  the  hurry  that  attends  the  close  of  the  session, 
to  thank  you  for  your  last  favor,  which  I  do  very  sincerely ; 
and  to  tell  you  that  I  hope  on  Saturday  once  more  to 
revisit  my  best  friend ;  for,  unless  something  unforeseen  pre- 
vents, the  court  will  terminate  their  session  to-morrow,  if 
not  this  day.  I  still  feel  much  concerned  on  the  subject  of 
help,  but  hope  Mrs.  Mack's  arrival  will  afford  you  some 
relief.  I  am  not  a  little  rejoiced  with  the  comfort  you 
have  in  Mr.  Newman. 

"  Yours,  with  sincere  affection, 

"  S.  PHILLIPS." 

From  this  time  the  letters  of  Judge  Phillips  make 
frequent  mention  of  his  shattered  health.  The  more 
sensible  he  became  of  his  own  infirmities,  the  greater 
was  his  solicitude  to  relieve  her  in  every  possible 
way ;  and  her  letters  were  prized  more  highly  than 


132  MEMOIR     OF 

ever,  as  he  could   not  so    often    visit  her.     Thus  he 
writes  from  Boston  :  — 

"  February  7,  1795.  —  The  good  things  you  sent  me  de- 
mand my  gratitude.  .  .  .  Your  advice  to  defer  going  to  An- 
dover,  comports  with  that  of  all  my  friends  here,  though  it 
seems  very  strange  indeed  to  tarry  within  twenty-three 
miles  of  my  best  friend,  a  whole  session,  without  seeing 
her ;  but  you  can  hardly  realize  the  difference  of  my  feel- 
ings in  regard  to  journeying,  especially  in  the  winter  and 
on  frozen  ground,  even  between  last  winter  and  this.  When 
the  court  will  be  up  is  quite  uncertain;  I  fancy  at  least 
that  the  effect  of  the  theatre  may  be  discerned,  in  an 
increased  disinclination  to  labor  and  close  application  to 
business.  .  .  .  Pray  thank  Mr.  Newman,  presenting  my  re- 
gards, —  will  endeavor  to  write  him  as  soon  as  I  can. 
"  Yours,  with  sincere  affection, 

"  S.  PHILLIPS." 

"  February  10,  1795.  —  Very  unexpectedly  this  morning, 
when  I  stepped  into  Mrs.  Phillips's,  was  told  that  Mr.  N. 
was  in  the  other  room ;  finding  that  he  brought  a  letter  from 
your  hand  and  had  delivered  it  to  Mr.  Cooper,  I  went  im- 
mediately in  pursuit  of  it,  and  received  a  pleasure  in  the 
perusal  of  it,  which  amply  rewarded  me  for  leaving  the 
company  of  good  friends  very  abruptly.  .  .  .  Sammy  will 
be  obliged  to  lose  his  class  if  he  attends  French  now :  — 
English,  Latin,  and  Greek,  etc.,  seem  enough  for  a  child 
of  his  years  to  attend  to  at  once  :  —  but  of  this  Mr.  N.  will 
say  more  to  you. 

"  Mrs.  M.  Phillips  says  it  will  be  very  agreeable   to  go  up 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  133 

with   me    at   Thanksgiving,  if    court,  health,   weather,    and 
travelling  should  favor. 

"  Your  affectionate  husband,         S.   P." 

"  February  7,  1797.  —  One  line  written  during  the  debate 
of  Senate,  will  be  acceptable  to  my  dear  friend,  if  it  only 
informs  her  that  we  arrived  safe.  .  .  .  Just  before  the  Sen- 
ate rose,  Mr.  Harding  sent  in  your  favor  of  this  day,  which 
was  very  grateful  to  me.  .  .  .  To-day  Mr.  March  gave  me 
a  letter  for  Miss  Greenleaf ;  —  as  to  her  going  to  Haverhill 
in  the  stage,  it  must  not  be ;  whenever  she  chooses  to  go 
over,  Mr.  Moses  or  Cassius  will  wait  on  her.  Some  small 
token  of  remembrance  I  wish  you  could  give  her :  would 
Doddridge's  Rise  and  Progress  be  acceptable  ?  I  hope  you 
will  be  able  to  write  a  line  by  her  to  her  mamma,  expressive 
of  the  pleasure  and  comfort  she  has  given  us. 

"  By  the  next  opportunity  you  will  write  to  Mrs.  Phillips, 
if  you  can;  she  feels  so  deeply  interested  in  your  happi- 
ness, I  wish  she  may  receive  all  the  attention  from  you 
which  you  can  find  it  convenient  to  give.  Wishing  you 
every  support  and  comfort,  which  can  result  from  the  daily 
cultivation  of  all  the  Christian  virtues,  I  am,  with  sincere 
affection,  your  unworthy  S.  PHILLIPS." 

"  February  13,  1797.  —  The  sight  of  your  letter  this  after- 
noon gave  me  much  pleasure,  and  the  perusal  still  more. 
I  am  glad  to  hear  that  Miss  Greenleaf  had  so  agreeable 
a  conveyance  to  Haverhill  —  hope  you  gave  the  honest  girl 
a  letter  for  her  mamma,  expressive  of  our  sense  of  her 
benevolence,  and  our  gratification  by  her  visit.  The  idea 
would  be  highly  pleasing  to  her  parents,  and  conveyed  in 
your  manner  would  be  a  feast  to  them.  If  you  could  not 

12 


134  MEMOIR     OF 

write  when  she  left  you,  won't  you  let  a  letter  overtake 
her  at  Haverhill  ?  I  had  rather  pay  ten  postages,  than  that 
our  good  friends  should  miss  of  the  pleasure.  As  to  Miss 
French  I  am  quite  willing  she  should  be  noticed,  and  wish 
you  to  inclose  ten,  fifteen,  or  twenty  dollars  to  her  father, 
with  our  regards;  subjoining  those  wishes  which  your  pen 
will  dictate  better  than  I  can  prescribe." 

"  February  17,  1797.  —  I  thank  you  for  your  kind  favor  of 
the  13th,  and  am  much  gratified  by  the  information  that  you 
have  honest  Timothy  again  with  you.  His  fidelity  is 
remarkable;  indeed  I  don't  recollect  that  I  ever  hired  any 
person,  on  the  farm  or  in  the  house,  in  whose  fidelity  I 
placed  more  confidence. 

"  I  had  some  conversation  to-day  with  our  son  respecting 
his  situation.  It  must  be  considered  unfavorable  to  the 
object  intended ;  our  intention  was  that  he  should  be  under 
the  instruction  of  a  gentleman  most  eminent  in  his  pro- 
fession. Mr.  Dexter  was  thought  to  be  such  an  one  ;  but 
instead  of  having  the  advantage  of  Mr.  Dexter's  instruction, 
he  is  at  Philadelphia.  .  .  .  On  considering  all  circumstances 
he  seemed  convinced  it  was  best  to  remove,  and  if  so,  the 
sooner  the  better.  Your  opinion,  however,  on  this  point  is 
essential,  for  if  it  meets  with  your  disapprobation  I  can't  be 
willing  to  take  measures  to  effect  the  change.  If  the  proposi- 
tion should  appear  to  you  as  it  does  to  us,  the  next  question 
is,  what  place  is  most  advantageous  ?  —  and  here  Mr.  Reeve 
comes  into  view  again.  Mr.  Bacon  still  speaks  of  him,  and 
that  frequently,  as  a  man  under  whom  more  advantage  is 
to  be  obtained  than  any  other  that  he  knows  of.  This  is 
undeniable :  that  a  man  who  makes  the  business  of  instruc- 
tion his  object,  and  gives  his  attention  wholly  to  that,  is 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  135 

much  to  be  preferred  to  one  of  the  same  abilities  and  ac- 
quirements whose  attention  is  employed  other  ways,  or 
divided  among  a  variety  of  pursuits.  ...  In  this  case,  as  in 
all  others,  we  have  need  to  ask  direction  from  the  Foun- 
tain of  wisdom,  and  may  He  graciously  impart  it  unto  us. 
"  Thus  prays  your  affectionate, 

"  S.  PHILLIPS." 

"  March  26,  1798.  —  I  arrived  at  Page's  about  a  quarter 
before  seven.  The  travelling  was  much  better  than  I  had 
any  idea  of.  Our  son  came  in  about  three  quarters  of  an 
hour  after  I  arrived,  and  we  have  spent  as  agreeable  an 
evening  as  the  melancholy  tidings  he  brought  me  would 
admit  of. 

"  Upon  inquiry  after  our  friends,  he  soon  informed  me 
that  Mrs.  Quincy  was  no  more  I1  Last  night,  she  departed 
this  transitory  scene.  She  had  been  considered  by  her 
physician,  some  days  past,  to  be  in  a  critical  situation ;  on 
Saturday  was  pronounced  by  Dr.  Danforth  to  be  much  better, 
and  her  friends  were  greatly  encouraged ;  but  soon,  alas ! 
was  the  prospect  changed,  and  in  a  few  hours  was  her  ac- 
count closed.  What  an  affecting  lesson  of  the  uncertainty 
of  this  world  and  all  that  it  contains! — of  the  delusive 
nature  of  the  brightest  prospects!  Just  arrived  or  arriving 
at  the  highest  point  of  enjoyment,  which  she  could  ever 
expect  or  rationally  desire,  in  the  present  life,  and  the  irrevo- 
cable sentence  is  pronounced,  *  time '  (with  you)  '  shall  be 
no  longer ! '  How  solemnly  is  the  sacred  admonition  en- 
forced by  such  events,  '  to  rejoice  as  though  we  rejoiced  not ! ' 
How  much  brighter  has  been  her  prospect  for  continuance 
in  life  than  mine  has  been  these  several  years !  And  she  is 

1  Mother  of  Hon.  Josiah  Quincy. 


136  MEMOIR    OF 

suddenly  separated  from  the  dearest  connections,  and  from 
one  in  whom  she  lately  promised  herself  a  large  increase 
of  enjoyment,  and  with  as  much  reason,  too,  as  the  uncer- 
tainty of  sublunary  joys  would  admit  of;— while  I  am  still 
spared,  a  wonder  to  myself,  and  a  monument  of  the  Divine 
forbearance  and  benignity!  What  an  obligation  to  greater 
purity  and  fruitfulness  than  in  time  past  I  have  exhibited ! 
What  a  warning  this  to  cease  from  depending  on  any  thing 
on  this  side  of  the  grave ! 

"  My  uncle  must  be  deeply  affected  with  this  shock.  The 
rest  of  the  family  will  feel  it  very  deeply ;  but  his  age  and 
infirmities  will  render  him  more  susceptible  of  the  anguish. 
I  think  this  is  an  hour  to  express  sensibility  for  and  sympa- 
thy with  him.  Is  it  too  much  to  ask  you  to  come  down  and 
join  in  paying  our  last  respect  to  the  memory  of  our  friend, 
and  expressing  our  condolence  with  the  afflicted  family  ? 
I  can't  forget  her  attention,  on  similar  occasions,  when  we 
were  bereaved  of  father  and  mother. 

"  Perhaps  there  is  no  occasion  on  which  the  attention  of 
friends  is  more  sensibly  felt ;  and  few,  very  few  indeed,  are 
the  friends  to  whom  we  are  under  so  great  obligations  as  to 
my  uncle  and  aunt.  I  have,  also,  at  this  moment,  fresh  in 
my  mind  the  uncommon  sensibility  my  uncle  expressed  for 
the  notice,  when  I  attended  the  funeral  of  his  consort.  But, 
although  I  should  be  uncommonly  gratified  by  your  pres- 
ence, if  it  can  be  granted  consistently  with  your  welfare,  1 
shall  be  as  much  grieved,  if  you  indulge  me  at  the  expense 

of  that Yours,  sincerely, 

"  S.  PHILLIPS." 

To  all  such  communications,  year  after  year,  Madam 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  137 

Phillips,  as  we  gather  from  his  frequent  acknowledg- 
ments, and  from  specimens  of  her  letters  which  have 
been  preserved,  sent  replies  worthy  of  herself  and 
of  him ;  and  with  these  delightful  interchanges  of 
thought,  sentiment,  plans,  and  incidents,  they  relieved 
the  tedium  of  their  separations ;  revealing  more  and 
more  to  each  other  in  all  the  process,  the  rare  virtues 
which  composed  their  character. 

We  have  chosen  to  give  these  copious  extracts, 
continuously,  for  the  purpose  of  showing,  in  their 
own  wrords,  the  tone  of  their  domestic  life,  as  it 
affected  each  in  their  circumstances.  That  two  per- 
sons could  well  have  shown  more  mutual  respect  or 
confidence,  or  have  felt  a  more  fresh  and  gladdening 
attachment  to  each  other,  will  not,  we  are  sure,  be 
imagined  by  any  one.  And  when  we  think  of  him 
as  consuming  his  life  so  fast,  amid  his  many  cares,  it 
is  a  relief  to  turn  and  see  how  by  word  and  deed 
she  unfailingly  cheered  him. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  in  all  this  correspondence, 
so  free  and  frequent,  there  is  a  certain  air  of  dignity, 
(of  stateliness,  we  might  be  tempted  to  say,  especially 
on  his  part,)  which  seems  to  check  that  familiarity 
for  which  we  naturally  look.  He  addresses  her  uni- 
formly as  his  best  "  friend,"  or  his  invaluable  "  part- 
ner," not  as  his  "  wife."  He  subscribes  himself,  ordi- 
narily, her  sincere,  affectionate,  devoted  friend,  but 
seldom  her  husband.  His  suggestions  and  requests 

12* 


138  MEMOIR    OF 

are,  usually,  in  diffident  and  guarded  terms ;  and 
often  there  is  a  tone  of  modesty,  bordering  upon 
despondency,  pervading  his  letters,  which  contrasts 
strongly  with  her  exuberant  vivacity  and  hopeful- 
ness; a  result  doubtless  of  his  jaded  and  diseased 
state,  rather  than  of  any  trait  in  his  character. 

These  guarded  courtesies  and  deferences  between 
them,  however,  serve  to  show  us  the  type  of  their 
family  in  a  strong  light.  It  was  eminently  a  family 
of  refined  manners,  —  refined  even  to  punctiliousness 
in  forms,  as  well  as  in  its  inner  spirit.  The  children 
were  trained  to  address  them  as  their  "  honored  papa" 
and  "honored  mamma"  Scholars,  who  were  inmates 
of  the  family,  could  never  enter  or  leave  the  room, 
in  their  presence,  without  a  respectful  recognition; 
a  rule  which  she  enforced  as  habitually  in  his  absence 
as  when  he  was  at  home. 

Yet  they  were  the  farthest  possible  from  that  affec- 
tation of  gentility  which  shuns  labor  and  vaunts  itself 
in  a  ceremonious  display.  A  simplicity  that  was  almost 
severe,  a  steadfast  frugality,  and  a  diligence  that  scarce- 
ly spared  time  enough  for  necessary  rest  or  relaxation, 
marked  their  life  ;  and  yet  a  most  generous  hospitality, 
and  an  open-handed  charity  to  the  poor,  which  shows 
that  their  frugality  was  not  parsimony. 

Indeed,  no  house  in  all  the  region  was  more  fre- 
quently resorted  to  than  theirs  by  the  needy,  and 
none  were  more  anxious  than  they,  not  only  to  supply 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  139 

the  wants  thus  made  known  to  them,  but  to  search  out 
and  befriend  the  poor  who  were  too  modest  or  sen- 
sitive to  ask  for  aid.  Habits  of  quiet  beneficence  which 
reached  to  many  a  family  around  them,  at  various 
seasons  in  the  year,  are  still  remembered  with  bless- 
ings on  their  name.  One  of  the  most  common  feat- 
ures in  their  correspondence  is  the  suggestion,  on  the 
part  of  one  or  the  other,  of  some  such  kindness  to  be 
shown  to  those  in  whom  they  had  become  interested ; 
a  book  or  a  garment  to  be  given,  a  sum  of  money  to 
be  sent,  a  quantity  of  wood,  or  flour,  or  vegetables  to 
be  left ;  and  the  manner  of  doing  the  favor  is  studied  as 
carefully  as  the  deed  itself.  In  these  numberless  little 
ways,  their  just  ideas  with  regard  to  the  use  of  prop- 
erty were  constantly  illustrated,  as  we  shall  hereafter 
see  they  were  in  other  modes  on  a  more  extended 
scale. 

"We  cannot  persuade  ourselves  to  pass  now  to  the 
notice  of  his  domestic  and  social  life  in  other  aspects, 
without  pausing  to  add  a  few  words  here  to  what  has 
already  been  said  of  the  character  of  Madam  Phil- 
lips. In  every  relation,  she  more  than  justified  his 
early  and  sagacious  judgment  of  her  rare  worth.  The 
virtues  which  had  won  his  devoted  regard,  in  spite  of 
the  disparity  in  their  years,  failed  not,  as  we  have 
seen,  to  win  also  his  reluctant  parents  to  her  heart. 
Her  children  loved  and  revered  her  with  a  boundless 


140  MEMOIR     OF 

homage.  The  admiring  terms  in  which  all  who  were 
ever  members  of  her  family,  whether  before  or  after 
her  husband's  decease,  speak  of  her  as  a  queen  among 
the  sex,  testify  to  her  commanding  influence.  The 
heartiness  and  intelligent  appreciation  with  which  she 
fostered  the  interests  of  learning,  especially  in  con- 
nection with  the  plans  of  Judge  Phillips  for  the  Acade- 
my, or  in  continuation  of  them  by  founding  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  have  served  to  give  a  wide  spread 
distinction  to  her  name  which  is  most  richly  deserved. 

The  religious  zeal  which,  as  years  glided  away  and 
trials  multiplied,  she  increasingly  evinced,  became  in 
the  end  her  prominent  characteristic,  and  endeared 
her  to  the  good  of  every  name.  Much  of  her  time, 
for  the  last  ten  years  of  her  life,  was  spent  in  private 
devotional  exercises,  with  a  zest  peculiar  to  herself. 
One  little  work,  entitled  u  A  Choice  Drop  of  Honey 
from  the  Rock  Christ,"  she  carried  daily  in  her  pocket 
through  this  whole  period,  and  when  a  moment  of 
leisure  occurred,  she  quickened  her  meditations  by 
some  line  from  it.  The  Contemplations  and  Letters 
of  Dorney  were  so  prized  by  her,  that  a  large  part  of 
the  entire  volume  was  copied  by  her  hand  and  sent  to 
one  and  another  of  her  friends.  Whenever  she  met  a 
striking  sentence  or  paragraph  from  any  religious 
work,  she  was  in  the  habit  of  thus  copying  it,  either 
to  be  retained  for  her  own  use,  or  to  be  sent  to  others. 
With  these  habits  of  religious  reading  and  reflection, 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  141 

she  cultivated,  in  a  remarkable  degree,  also,  the  spirit 
of  prayer;  until  communion  with  God,  and  cordial 
submission  in  all  things,  however  dark,  to  his  will, 
seemed  to  be  as  habitual  as  her  breath. 

Yet  every  sensibility  of  her  ardent  nature  remained 
keenly  alive  to  the  last.  It  was  not  callousness  nor 
stoicism,  but  piety,  which  reconciled  her  to  the  sharp 
and  varied  discipline  of  life.  In  tears  she  would  often 
say,  with  a  radiant  smile,  "  Ah,  this  trial  is  one  of  the  all 
things  tvhich  shall  work  together  for  good ! " 

At  her  death,  when  the  lips  of  her  admiring  friends 
were  unsealed,  and  the  heart  spoke  freely,  the  language 
of  eulogy  was  exhausted  in  commemoration  of  so  rare 
a  combination  of  virtues ;  the  strain  of  every  enco- 
mium reminding  us  of  Robert  Hall's  remark  to  William 
Jay  respecting  a  friend  :  "  Sir,  she  has  the  manners  of 
a  court,  and  the  piety  of  a  convent." 

"  Formed,"  said  Professor  Pearson,1  "  by  the  dignity  of  her 
person,  and  the  virtues  of  her  mind,  to  move  in  the  higher 
walks  of  life,  and  destined  by  Providence  for  extensive  use- 
fulness, she  commanded  the  esteem  and  affections  of  the 
man,  whom,  while  memory  lasts,  we  who  knew  him  shall 
delight  to  honor.  .  .  .  Gratitude  to  Heaven,  and  justice  to 
her,  oblige  us  to  say,  that  a  very  rare  assemblage  of  virtuous 
qualities,  improved  by  reading,  matured  by  reflection,  sanc- 

1  Funeral  Discourse,  p.  11. 


142  MEMOIR    OF 

tified  by  grace,  tried  and  brightened  by  afflictions,  constituted 
her  character.  .  .  .  Nearly  fifty  years  a  professed  disciple  of 
Christ,  she  was  a  constant,  punctual,  and  devout  attendant 
on  the  public  institutions  and  ordinances  of  the  Gospel.  On 
the  Sabbath,  also,  to  all  within  it,  her  house  was  converted 
into  a  sanctuary.  ...  To  her  honor,  it  will  be  long  said  by 
strangers  as  well  as  by  friends,  that  her  house  continued  to 
be  the  same  mansion  of  hospitality  which  it  ever  had  been 
during  the  life  of  her  noble  consort.  Of  them  both  it 
may  be  said,  that  their  hearts  were  not  more  united  by 
mutual  esteem  and  affection,  than  by  acts  of  charity  and 
munificence." 

One  of  the  many  public  notices  of  her  in  the  papers, 
embodying  recollections  of  her  some  years  subsequent 
to  her  death,  gives  the  following  portraiture  :  — 

"  To  her  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  Faculty  of  Har- 
vard University  from  childhood,  may,  in  some  measure,  be 
attributed  her  elegant  style  of  conversation,  which  surpassed 
that  of  any  one  male  or  female  in  this  country.  She  saw  the 
subject  under  consideration  in  all  its  bearings,  and  clothed  it 
in  the  most  felicitous  language.  There  was  no  redundancy, 
no  stint,  no  singularity  except  that  of  superior  refinement; 
nothing  to  excite  surprise  in  her  conversation,  but  the  most 
learned  listened  with  profound  admiration  at  her  taste  and 
skill  in  language.  She  was  fond  of  her  pen,  and  took  de- 
light in  keeping  up  an  extensive  correspondence  with  literary 
and  religious  persons.  She  wrote  with  great  ease  and  rapid- 
ity, in  a  chirography  at  once  plain  as  a  printed  page,  and 
whose  beauty  was  only  exceeded  by  the  thought  it  contained. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  143 

"  She  was  married  to  Samuel  Phillips  of  Andover,  a  young 
man  at  that  period  most  zealously  engaged  in  the  cause  of 
his  country,  anxious  for  its  political  prosperity,  and  for  its 
advancement  in  learning,  and  he  found  a  most  admirable 
coadjutor  in  his  wife.  During  the  dark  period  of  the  Revo- 
lution, she  sat  up  until  midnight  with  the  females  of  her 
household,  to  make  garments  for  poor,  destitute  soldiers,  and 
in  scraping  lint  and  cutting  bandages  for  the  hospitals.  The 
sick  in  her  neighborhood  of  all  classes  were  inquired  after, 
and  every  thing  that  could  administer  to  their  comfort  was 
sent  from  her  hospitable  mansion.  The  Academy,  founded 
by  her  husband's  father  and  uncle,  was  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  her  residence,  and  every  pupil's  health  was  the 
subject  of  her  attention ;  and  to  those  who  had  come  from 
a  distance,  and  had  no  natural  guardian  near,  she  acted  the 
part  of  a  parent  at  all  times. 

"  Devoted  to  religion  with  more  than  a  *  cloistered  maid- 
en's zeal,'  she  had  not  a  particle  of  bigotry  in  her  disposition, 
and  one  might  have  lived  with  her  for  years  without  knowing 
her  sentiments  upon  any  particular  point  in  divinity.  .  .  . 
Her  person  was  striking ;  tall  above  most  women,  her  mien 
was  majestic  without  awkwardness  from  her  height,  her 
features  were  prominent,  but  softened  by  a  mild  expression, 
and  her  large  blue  eye  was  full  of  sweetness  of  temper, 
while  it  beamed  with  genius." 

As  we  read  such  enthusiastic  eulogies,  we  are  ready 
with  Milton  to  exclaim :  — 

"  O  !  when  meet  now 

Such  pairs,  in  love  and  mutual  honor  joined  ? 
With  goddess-like  demeanor  forth  she  went, 


144  MEM  OIK    OF 

Not  unattended ;  for  on  her,  as  Queen, 
A  pomp  of  winning  Graces  waited  still, 
And  from  about  her  shot  darts  of  desire 
Into  all  eyes,  to  wish  her  still  in  sight."  1 

Favored  by  Providence  with  such  a  wife,  as  the  chief 
light  of  his  home,  Judge  Phillips  needs  to  be  seen  with 
her  now  in  his  relations  to  their  children. 

The  early  training  of  the  elder  son,  in  the  troubled 
era  of  the  Revolution,  was  the  earnest  care  of  both  the 
parents,  their  skill  making  the  best  possible  amends  for 
the  disadvantages  of  the  times,  and  of  their  own  unset- 
tled state  as  a  family  moving  from  house  to  house. 

This  child  was  physically  and  mentally  in  the  espe- 
cial likeness  of  his  honored  mother,  and  every  year, 
with  every  form  of  culture  under  her  hand,  only  added 
to  the  striking  resemblance  in  manners,  person,  tem- 
perament, and  aims.  Both  in  childhood  and  later 
years,  that  ardor  of  spirit  which  characterized  her, 
carried  him  along  in  his  course  with  eager  enthusiasm, 
which  it  was  their  study  to  check,  as  the  chief  source 
of  danger  to  the  character  and  prospects  of  a  young 
man.  Every  thing  was  done  by  him  heartily,  gen- 
erously. 

After  a  careful  preparation  in  the  Academy  for  the 
University,  he  entered  Harvard  College  in  the  autumn 
of  1791,  pursued  his  studies  with  great  assiduity 

1  Paradise  Lost,  Book  VIII.  57-63. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  145 

through  the  course,  and  graduated  in  1795  with  dis- 
tinguished honor;  the  salutatory  oration  in  Latin 
being  assigned  to  him,  as  it  had  been  to  his  father 
before  him.  Many  of  the  family  letters  while  he  was 
in  College  and  afterwards,  are  worthy  of  being  here 
cited,  (omitting  only  such  portions  as  relate  to  unim- 
portant or  strictly  private  matters,)  although  we  shall 
reserve  a  part  of  the  correspondence  between  the 
father  and  son  for  another  chapter  in  our  narrative. 
We  quote,  nearly  entire,  first  a  letter  of  Judge  Phillips, 
dated,  — 

"  ANDOVER,  Sabbath  Evening,  August  19,  1792. 
"  MY  DEAR,  SON,  —  I  have  received  yours  of  the  16th,  and 
hope  you  got  down  safe  and  found  all  well,  as  you  did  not 
inform  us  to  the  contrary.  The  vacation  has  expired  before 
1  had  performed  that  duty  to  you  which  I  intended,  and 
probably  before  you  had  executed  what  you  had  purposed,  — 
a  specimen  this  of  what  will  be  the  case  with  most  if  not 
all  future  periods  of  your  life. 

"Your  term 'at  College  will  expire  before  you  are  aware  of 
it,  and  you  will  probably  then  find  that  you  have  not  ac- 
quired all  you  designed,  —  life  itself  will  soon  be  closed, 
while  many  of  its  schemes  and  plans  will  remain  unac- 
complished, but  dreadful  beyond  expression  will  it  be  for 
•us,  if  we  shall  have  neglected  the  great  business  of  life  — 
that  of  making  our  peace  with  God.  At  every  stage  of 
our  existence  here,  this  is  too  little  thought  of;  at  your 
time  of  life  and  in  such  a  situation  as  you  are,  there  is 
great  danger  that  it  will  be  criminally  neglected,  though  in 

13 


146  MEMOIR    OF 

all  probability  a  more  favorable  opportunity  will  never  after- 
ward offer  for  attending  to  it.  It  will  be  of  great  use  to 
inquire  of  ourselves  at  the  close  of  every  day,  how  our  im- 
provement of  that  day  will  appear  at  the  great  closing 
scene 

"  After  giving  a  due  attention,  in  the  first  place,  to  this 
greatest  of  all  duties,  you  will,  I  trust,  give  all  the  diligence 
that  is  consistent  with  health  to  the  acquirement  of  useful 
knowledge.  Your  collegiate  exercises  will  grow  more 
numerous,  or  trying,  or  both,  as  you  advance,  and  the  ease 
with  which  you  will  go  through  those  which  are  before  you 
will  depend  much  on  the  manner  in  which  you  perform 
present  duty ;  —  any  deficiency  in  the  foundation  will  affect 
every  part  of  the  superstructure ;  —  besides,  one  neglect  or 
omission  will  lessen  your  reluctance  to  another,  and  a  third 
will  not  be  so  painful  as  the  second,  till  presently  a  habit 
may  be  formed  which  will  not  only  bring  you  out  a  lean 
scholar,  but  prove  an  effectual  bar  to  your  usefulness  and 
happiness  in  life.  Obsta  principiis,  be  your  motto,  when- 
ever feeling  a  propensity  to  neglect  a  duty  or  perform  an 
action,  or  even  when  entering  on  a  train  of  thinking,  which, 
if  formed  into  a  habit,  would  injure  your  peace  or  reputation 
as  a  Christian,  a  scholar,  or  a  gentleman. 

"  I  mentioned  your  health  as  necessary  to  be  consulted ;  — 
this  may  be  preserved  with  very  close  application,  if  due 
regard  be  paid  to  exercise  and  temperance.  The  example 
of  your  friend  Peele,  gives  full  proof  of  this  truth ;  as  to> 
exercise,  I  used  to  practise  it  by  walking  in  my  chamber, 
especially  when  I  had  any  thing  to  commit  to  memory. 
Sitting  or  standing  in  an  erect  posture,  when  at  your  desk 
or  table,  is  of  great  importance ;  —  probably  more  scholars 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS. 


147 


have  injured  their  health  by  bending  over  a  table  or  desk  than 
in  any  other  way.  Walking,  too,  will  be  a  favorable  situa- 
tion, while  recollecting  what  you  have  read  or  learned,  and 
the  business  of  recollecting  or  reviewing  will  be  of  great 
use  to  you,  especially  at  the  hour  of  scrutiny  at  those 
serious  examinations.  I  was  much  pleased  with  the  ac- 
count given  of  your  performance  at  the  last  trial ;  —  I  hope 
it  will  be  your  ambition,  at  least  to  maintain  your  ground, 
and  to  advance  forward  as  far  as  you  can ;  —  to  acquit 
yourself  with  honor  before  so  respectable  a  committee  of  the 
Board  of  Overseers  and  Corporation,  and  to  be  thus  re- 
ported by  them  to  the  whole  board,  is  not  a  small  object; 
but  to  be  recorded  in  the  library,  there  to  stand  for  the 
inspection  of  the  numerous  gentlemen  and  ladies  who  visit 
that  place,  and  are  disposed  to  inform  themselves  on  that 
subject,  must  be  a  powerful  stimulus  to  exertion. 

"  Mr.  Pearson's  exercises  will  be  of  great  use  to  you ;  — 
for  in  every  sentence  that  you  speak  and  write  the  knowledge 
of  grammar  is  concerned,  and  to  be  able  to  write  and  speak 
with  propriety,  correctness,  and  elegance,  is  of  great  and 
daily  use,  and  a  rich  accomplishment.  Connected  with  this 
branch  is  that  of  mathematics,  as  it  will  assist  you  in  think- 
ing clearly  and  methodically,  both  which  are  essentially 
necessary  to  good  composition ;  for  you  must  have  pertinent, 
clear,  and  connected  ideas,  before  you  will  have  any  use  for 
clothing  for  them.  .  .  .  Adieu,  my  son  ;  be  wise  and  be  happy. 
"  So  prays  your  affectionate  parent, 

"  SAMUEL  PHILLIPS." 

A  letter  from  Madam  Phillips,  dated  "  February  18, 
1793,"  contains  the  following:  — 


148  MEMOIR    OF 

"  Your  letter,  my  dear  son,  afforded  me  much  pleasure. 
You  say  you  are  alone ;  I  am  pleased  to  find  you  can  enjoy 
yourself  without  a  chum ;  but,  can  you  forbid  the  dissipated 
to  enter  your  apartment  with  so  good  a  grace  as  if  you  had 
a  companion?  —  excuse  the  hint,  my  dear  ;  be  assured  every 
caution  I  give  you  I  mean  should  promote  your  happiness ; 
while  in  the  world  we  are  all  liable  to  be  led  astray,  and 
need  be  constantly  upon  the  watch  lest  our  feet  slip.  I 
would  have  given  much  for  so  kind  friends  as  you  have  to 
point  out  the  dangers  of  the  road  I  travelled ; — at  your  time 
of  life  I  had  a  thousand  difficulties  to  encounter  which  you 
know  nothing  of.  I  hope,  my  dear  son,  heaven  will  assist 
you  to  keep  your  heart  with  all  diligence,  since  out  of  it 
are  the  issues  of  life,  —  yea,  everlasting  life. 

"  I  am  much  pleased  with  your  present  taste  for  reading;  .  .  . 
believe  me,  every  good  maxim  you  store  your  mind  with  in 
youth  will  yield  you  satisfaction  hereafter.  May  you  be 
directed  to  the  happiest  mode  of  acquiring  that  learning 
which  shall  make  you  useful  here,  and  be  enabled  to  adopt 
and  practise  those  virtues  which  shall  secure  you  an  interest 
in  that  blissful  region  where  nothing  is  admitted  which  can 
cause  a  sigh." 

In  June,  of  the  same  year,  she  writes :  — 

"  I  am  happy,  my  dear  son,  that  it  is  in  my  power  to  spend 
a  few  moments  with  you  this  evening,  and  pleased  at  having 
so  good  an  opportunity  to  forward  some  necessaries  to  you. 

"I  hope,  my  dear  son,  if  it  be  in  the  Divine  plan  for  you 
to  continue  on  earth,  till  and  after  you  arrive  at  manhood, 
you  will  be  steadily  employing  the  interim  for  enriching  your 
mind  with  the  most  valuable  stores  which  will  be  of  use  to 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  149 

you,  and  indeed  constitute  the  happiness  of  your  life.  O ! 
never  forget  what  your  dear  papa  has  a  thousand  times 
repeated,  that  ' youth  is  the  seed-time  of  life!'  ...  I  cannot 
express  to  you  the  pleasure  it  gives  me  to  find  you  are  desir- 
ous of  walking  in  the  right  path.  May  the  good  Spirit  lead 
your  mind  ever  to  make  the  wisest  choice,  strengthen  you 
in  the  performance  of  your  virtuous  determinations,  and  con- 
tinually effect  the  most  pleasing  emotions  ;  surely  I  can  have 
no  higher  delight  than  your  happiness  would  bring.  'To 
be  good  is  to  be  happy;  angels  are  happier  than  mankind 
because  they  are  better?  " 

At  the  College  Exhibition,  in  September  of  this  year, 
an  English  colloquy  was  assigned  to  young  Phillips 
with  two  others  of  his  class ;  and  Judge  Phillips,  in  a 
letter  soon  after,  dated  September  9,  1793,  writes :  — 

"  Yours  of  the  2d  instant  I  received  on  the  7th,  and  was 
much  pleased  with  the  contents  generally.  I  am  much 
gratified,  my  dear  child,  by  finding  the  honor  which  is  done 
you  in  the  late  assignment  for  exhibition; — I  hope  you 
will  spare  no  reasonable  pains  to  acquit  yourself  with  honor 
to  your  instructors,  your  parents,  and  yourself.  Don't  delay 
your  preparations.  To  be  ready  in  season  will  afford  your 
mind  great  ease,  and  will  give  you  opportunity  to  correct 
errors  and  make  improvements. 

"  You  will  have  excellent  friends  in  Messrs.  Tappan,  Pear- 
son, and  Kirkland,  to  advise  and  assist  you,  though  it  is 
doubtful  whether  they  will  do  more  than  correct ;  and  noth- 
ing will  tend  so  much  to  free  you  from  embarrassment  in  the 
delivery,  as  a  confidence  that  you  are  master  of  your  subject. 

13  * 


150  MEMOIR     OF 

Do  n't  forget  to  guard  against  precipitancy ;  due  moderation 
is  very  graceful.  As  to  entertaining  your  class  T  shall  not 
hesitate  at  the  expense,  if  it  can  be  conducted  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  won't  give  offence  to  the  government.  You  will  be 
careful  not  to  exceed  what  has  been  customary,  only  hand- 
somely to  conform  to  general  practice.  Those  who  come 
after  may  be  fond  of  imitating  your  example. 

"  The  subject  of  your  forensic  is  excellent,  and  you  have  the 
best  side  of  the  question  ;  I  hope  you  will  do  it  justice.  You 
will  naturally  remark  on  the  labor  and  risk  of  acquiring  an 
estate,  —  the  care  in  preserving  and  the  anxiety  about  losing 
it,  —  the  evil  effects  that  affluence  often  produces  on  the 
mind,  in  nourishing  pride  and  ambition,  accompanied  with 
insolence  toward,  and  contempt  of,  the  lower  classes  of  so- 
ciety,—  the  shafts  of  envy  that  are  often  levelled  against  the 
possessor,  though  his  character  may  be  irreproachable.  Fur- 
ther; is  not  a  state  of  mediocrity  or  competency  the  lot  of 
the  great  bulk  of  mankind,  —  and  has  not  the  Father  of  the 
great  family,  who  is  unerring  in  wisdom  and  infinite  in  good- 
ness, assigned  to  the  largest  class  of  them,  that  condition 
which  is  most  friendly  to  their  happiness  ?  It  is  true,  where 
affluence  is  improved  to  communicate  happiness  to  others,  it 
affords  the  highest  enjoyment ;  but  a  disposition  for  this  im- 
provement of  wealth  rarely  accompanies  the  possessor  of  it, 
and  where  it  does,  to  determine  on  the  proper  objects  of  lib- 
erality, and  to  decide  the  quantum  requisite,  and  the  best 
mode  of  granting  it,  is  a  work  of  care  and  labor  to  him  who 
wishes  to  acquit  himself  with  fidelity  in  his  stewardship. 

"  Where  great  wealth  is  accompanied  with  great  corrup- 
tion of  heart,  which  it  often  produces  and  still  oftener  in- 
creases, how  melancholy  are  the  effects  to  the  possessor, — 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  151 

how  distressing  to  those  within  its  influence  :  —  a  striking  in- 
stance we  have  in  the  famous,  or  rather  infamous,  Duke  of 
Orleans,  said  to  be  the  richest  prince  in  Europe,  and  if  the 
crimes  laid  to  his  charge  are  well  founded,  distinguished  no 
less  for  his  vices  than  he  is  for  his  wealth  ;  had  this  miserable 
man  been  blessed  with  a  state  of  mediocrity,  he  might  have 
lived  an  innocent  life,  and  met  a  peaceful  death.  From  a 
critical  observation  of  human  lifej  we  shall  find  reason  to 
subscribe  to  the  wisdom  of  Agur's  prayer,  and  supplicate 
Heaven  only  for  a  competency.  I  hope  your  own  mind  has 
suggested  the  above,  or  better  arguments  on  the  subject. 
Your  mamma  and  brother  join  in  affectionate  salutations 
with  your  anxious  parent.  S.  PHILLIPS." 

A  few  days  later  he  reiterates  some  of  the  cautions 
in  the  preceding  letter,  respecting  the  proposed  enter- 
tainment :  — 

"  September  19,  1793.  —  My  dear  son,  I  think  it  of  conse- 
quence that  you  should  endeavor,  by  all  prudent  means,  to 
prevent  disorder  and  noise  at  the  approaching  interview  of 
your  class  at  your  chamber,  by  securing  the  influence  of  the 
more  influential  and  considerate  for  this  purpose  ;  those  who 
wish  to  preserve  order,  are  furnished  with  an  argument  of 
weight,  from  the  late  conduct  of  the  government,  which  you 
observe  has  been  as  towards  '  young  gentlemen.'  Shall  they 
not  be  encouraged  to  continue  this  line  of  conduct  by  the  expe- 
rience of  its  advantages  ?  I  had  rather  you  should  give  your 
class  two  temperate  '  treats,'  (as  they  are  called,)  than  one 
that  should  be  attended  with  noise  or  disorder." 

This  occasion  appears  to  have  passed  off  satisfacto- 


152  MEMOIR    OP 

rily,  and  without  any  unusual  excesses.  But  somewhat 
later  in  the  season,  the  spirit  of  disorder  became  rife 
in  the  College,  to  which  we  find  allusions  in  the  follow- 
ing letters. 

In  a  long  and  most  interesting  communication,  dated 
December  17,  1793,  Madam  Phillips  closes  with  these 
earnest  words :  — 

"  The  troublesome  scenes  you  have  been  witness  to  make 
me  blush  for  human  nature ;  and  we  cannot  but  look  up  to 
that  Divine  power  who  superintends  throughout  the  uni- 
verse, with  peculiar  gratitude,  that  while  so  many  have  fallen 
a  sacrifice  to  the  dominion  of  vile  passions,  you  have  been 
preserved.  Boast  not,  my  son,  nor  think  your  own  strength 
has  given  you  the  advantage ;  remember  that  is  but  weak- 
ness, without  aid  from  on  high ;  therefore,  bend  low,  let  me 
conjure  you,  to  that  Divine  power  which  has  been  protecting 
you  when  in  danger  of  delusion  from  the  path  of  virtue. 

"  Now,  my  dear  son,  most  resolutely  determine  to  give 
yourself  up,  soul  and  body,  with  all  their  several  important 
interests,  to  that  God  who  made  you,  and  has  thus  far  pre- 
served you  ;  to  him  you  owe  every  thing  ;  own  him  for  your 
sovereign,  and  accept  that  invitation,  founded  on  the  highest 
benevolence  to  wretched  man,  to  embrace  him  whom  he  has 
announced  his  well-beloved  Son  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world, 
—  give  yourself  up  to  this  Almighty  Saviour,  —  put  your 
name  to  the  covenant,  and  may  God  strengthen  you  to  per- 
form all  the  requisites  to  prove  your  sincerity." 

A  brief  note  from  Judge  Phillips,  dated  December 
31,  1793,  suggests,  in  reference  to  the  vacation: — 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  153 

"  You  will  be  very  careful  to  leave  every  thing  as  safe  as  pos- 
sible  The  winter  vacation  is  the  time  when  the  mis- 
chievous are  most  apt  to  bestir  themselves,  and  it  is  possible 
that  the  reforming  club  may  be  more  exposed  than  others. 
You  may  mention,  as  you  have  opportunity,  that  Mr.  Abie! 
Abbot,  of  Wilton,  has  been  written  to  by  a  friend,  (not  one 
of  the  electors,)  to  know  whether  he  would  accept  the  Tutor- 
ship if  offered,  —  but  he  and  his  friends  have  great  doubt  on 
account  of  the  treatment  tutors  have  met  with.  It  is  of 
consequence  that  collegians  should  see  how  much  they  injure 
themselves  in  discouraging  and  depriving  themselves  of  some 
of  the  best  of  men,  by  insulting  those  in  office.  I  hope  to  see 
you  with  sound  limbs  and  a  pure  mind  in  a  healthful  body." 

In  the  college  honors  for  the  junior  exhibition,  the 
succeeding  year,  an  oration  in  Latin  was  assigned  to 
Phillips,  just  after  he  had  borne  off  one  of  the  prizes  in 
his  class.  At  the  exhibition,  the  next  spring,  1795,  he 
was  honored  with  a  mathematical  exercise ;  and  on  grad- 
uating, as  already  mentioned,  he  pronounced  the  Salu- 
tatory Oration.  As  this  era  drew  near,  gratified  to  the 
utmost  with  his  deportment  and  proficiency,  and  with 
his  honorable  rank  in  his  class,  his  parents  were  eager 
to  give  him  such  a  Commencement,  as  the  judge  had 
sought  for  himself  at  the  close  of  his  college  course. 

"  I  forgot,"  says. his  father,  June  15,  1795,  "in  my  hurry  on 
Saturday,  to  ask  you  respecting  your  cloths  for  Commence- 
ment, what  color  you  would  choose I  hope  you  have 

tried  and  ascertained  what  can  be  done  about  obtaining  one 


154  MEMOIR    OF 

or  more  upper  chambers ;  also  the  fourth  chamber  on  the 
floor  you  have  already  secured  three  upon,  if  not,  do  n't  delay 
this  matter,  and  let  me  know  your  prospect.  Let  me  know 
also  what  you  wish  for  in  Boston,  that  I  can  procure  you. 
If  there  must  be  a  curtailing  of  your  oration,  I  should  like  to 
have  a  copy  of  the  whole  in  English,  so  as  to  form  a  better 
opinion  what  part  to  omit,  unless  you  are  well  satisfied  your- 
self on  that  head.  You  will  devote  yourself  to  the  business 
of  your  oration  this  week,  as  much  as  you  can.  If  you  can't 
be  secure  from  interruption  at  your  chamber,  you  had  better 
retire  where  nobody  can  find  you ;  the  largest  edition  of 
Ainsworth  may  be  useful." 

In  arranging  for  the  entertainment  of  his  class,  Mr. 
Phillips  was  not  only  thus  liberally  aided  by  his  father, 
but  as  generously  also  by  his  mother,  many  things 
being  prepared  by  her  own  hand,  and  many  by  others 
under  her  eye  at  Andover,  and  sent  to  Cambridge 
for  the  joyful  occasion. 

It  may  have  been  the  foreshadowing  of  this  parental 
zeal  for  his  especial  gratification  at  this  juncture,  as 
well  as  his  uniform  past  experience  of  their  kindnesses, 
which  prompted  him,  in  May  of  this  year,  to  dwell 
upon  a  parental  affection  "  as  his  theme  at  a  class  exer- 
cise, a  portion  of  which  we  here  quote  :  - 

"  Omnis  in  Ascanio  ohari  stat  cura  parentis." 

"  Parental  tenderness  is  a  source  of  the  most  refined 
pleasures  to  the  heart  of  sensibility.  It  arises  from  benevo- 
lence directed  to  its  favorite  objects.  It  is  an  instinctive 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  155 

tenderness  impressed  on  the  human  mind  by  the  hand  of 
nature,  and  an  emanation  from  the  great  fountain  of  benev- 
olence. It  is  that  tie  which  holds  together  society  and 
makes  man  the  friend  of  man.  The  full  strength  of  these 
impressions  is  only  felt  by  that  tender  parent  whose  sub- 
lunary happiness  or  woe  depends  on  the  good  or  ill  conduct 
of  his  favorite  offspring.  If,  allured  by  the  deceitful  charms 
of  vice,  they  follow  in  her  train,  the  darts  of  anguish  sink 
deep  within  his  soul ;  but  if  they  pass  regardless  by  her 
tempting  doors,  and  fly  to  that  best  retreat  where  modest 
virtue  stands  with  open  arms  for  their  embrace,  language 
cannot  portray  the  ecstatic  feelings  of  his  heart.  To  such 
a  parent,  do  not  our  youthful  bosoms  burn  with  desire  to 
express  their  emotions  of  filial  gratitude?  Yes,  while  he 
retains  the  powers  of  sensibility  we  will  strive  to  make  his 
joys' more  exquisite  by  our  obedience;  and  when  impatient 
angels  shall  beckon  for  their  long-wished  companion,  when 
time  shall  have  poured  her  richest  honors  on  his  head,  let 
ours  be  the  grateful  office  to  soften  the  pillow  of  declining 
age,  until  relentless  death  shall  cut  the  knot,  and  Heaven 
reward  its  votary  in  the  bosom  of  parental  affection." 

The  copy  of  his  Salutatory,  in  English,  which  his 
father  desired  him  to  send,  is  preserved,  as  is  also  the 
original  in  Latin,  together  with  various  other  com- 
positions of  his  in  the  same  tongue,  of  which  he  was 
a  great  admirer,  —  and  from  this  we  extract  a  few  para* 
graphs.  After  suitable  addresses  to  the  patriot,  Sam- 
uel Adams,  then  Governor,  and  to  President  Willard, 
and  others  of  the  Faculty,  he  suddenly  apostrophizes 


156  MEMOIR    OF 

the   University,  as  if  the   spirit   of  a  past  generation 
were  glowing  in  his  breast:  — 

"  Ye  sacred,  venerable  walls,  thou  school  of  ancient  heroes, 
thou  monument  of  the  magnanimity  of  our  ancestors,  we  bid 
you  our  last,  solemn  farewell !  Thou  hast  been  the  guide,  the 
delight  of  our  youth,  thou  shalt  have  the  support  and  the 
filial  affection  of  our  riper  years.  May  thy  sun  continue  to 
ascend  till  time  itself  shall  die  ! " 

To  his  class  mates  he  says,  in  a  strain  worthy  of 
his  Revolutionary  father  :  — 

"  Let  us  duly  appreciate  the  inheritance  before  us,  and 
never  forget  the  toils,  the  hazards  and  sufferings  of  those 
patriots  and  heroes  by  whom  it  was  purchased  ;  despising  a 
life  of  inglorious  ease,  let  us  be  ever  awake  to  preserve,  and 
active  to  improve  our  glorious  patrimony ;  and,  whatever  be 
our  station,  the  happiness  of  the  great  whole  be  our  object  — 
fidelity,  our  motto  !  " 

Then  with  a  manly  pride  and  exultation  he  lingers, 
in  conclusion,  upon  the  present  and  prospective  glory 
of  the  nation :  — 

"  While  other  nations  are  doomed  to  distress  in  various 
forms,  we  hail  America  the  favorite  of  Heaven.  While 
the  land  and  the  ocean  conspire  to  our  happiness,  the  city 
and  the  country,  with  the  various  inhabitants  of  both,  rejoice 
in  their  bounties.  Behold  the  forest  daily  yielding  to  the 
hand  of  culture,  and  every  part  of  our  land  bearing  marks 
of  improvement.  See  colleges,  and  institutions  for  increas- 


JUDGE     PHILLIPS.  157 

ing  the  knowledge  and  happiness  of  mankind,  multiplying 
and  progressing.  All  these  are. guarded  by  constitutions  and 
laws,  founded  on  the  principles  of  reason  and  the  rights  of 
man.  These  constitutions  and  laws  are  committed  to  guar- 
dians, whose  ability  and  fidelity  their  country  has  proved. 
Behold  at  the  head  of  them  all  that  man,  who  is  the  orna- 
ment, the  pride,  the  glory  of  his  species.  Almighty  Parent, 
suffer  us  to  implore  but  one  blessing  more :  that  Thou 
wouldst  teach  us  the  worth  of  thy  mercies,  and  learn  us 
improve  them,  that  they  may  continue  as  long  as  time  shall 
endure ! " 

Graduating  from  College  with  such  high  promise, 
Mr.  Phillips  became  for  a  time  an  assistant  teacher 
in  the  Academy  at  Andover,  where  he  united  with  the 
church  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Eev.  Mr.  French, 
in  April,  1796  ;  the  assiduous  religious  culture  of  his 
early  life,  and  his  own  mature  convictions,  together 
with  the  influence  of  a  severe  affliction  under  which 
the  family  were  then  bowed  down,  conspiring  to  give 
a  salutary  spiritual  bias  to  his  feelings.  But  it  had 
been  his  own  and  his  parents'  settled  expectation,  that 
he  would  devote  himself  to  the  legal  profession.  Ac- 
cordingly, arrangements  were  made  for  his  entering 
upon  his  professional  studies  in  the  autumn  of  1796, 
with  the  Hon.  Samuel  Dexter  at  Charlestown. 

A  letter  from  his  hand,  dated  March  22,  1797,  when 
his  parents,  as  we  have  seen,  were  consulting  for  his 
removal,  will  give  us  some  idea  of  his  position  and 
promise  at  this  period.  We  give  the  letter  entire  :  — 

14 


158  MEMOIR    OF 

"  MY  HONORED  FATHER,  —  Nothing  remarkable  has  hap- 
pened since  you  left  Boston.  Mr.  Dexter  returned  Saturday 
night  and  is  well;  his  future  destiny  is  uncertain.  I  had 
yesterday  two  hours  agreeable  conversation  with  him  ;  in  the 
course  of  which  he  observed,  to  my  surprise,  that  I  came  very 
near  going  to  Holland  as  Secretary  to  Mr.  Murray,  the  new 
Plenipotentiary.  Mr.  Dexter  was  good  enough  to  represent 
me  to  Mr.  Murray  in  such  a  light  that  had  not  General 
Washington  obliquely  hinted  at  his  former  secretary,  Mr. 
Dandridge,  who  is  now  out  of  business,  I  should  have  had 
the  appointment. 

"  I  feel  grateful  to  Mr.  Dexter  for  his  partiality  to  me  in 
this  instance,  especially  as  his  exertions  in  my  favor  were 
used  without  my  request  or  even  previous  knowledge.  I  sus- 
pect that  Mr.  Murray  and  Mr.  Dexter  were  the  two  candi- 
dates for  the  office.  I  have  conversed  with  Mr.  Hurd  about 
our  business,  and  he  says  we.  may  do  as  much  business  as  we 
please,  with  a  handsome  capital,  on  a  safe  foundation.  I 
have  been  told  he  says  that  he  wishes  I  would  live  in 
Chaiiestown  ;  I  thank  him  for  his  politeness.  If  the  weather 
be  pleasant  on  Saturday  I  hope  to  visit  Andover.  Please, 
sir,  to  give  my  duty  to  my  honored  mamma. 

"  From,  honored  sir,  your  dutiful  son, 

"JOHN  PHILLIPS." 

In  consequence  chiefly  of  the  failure  of  his  health 
in  study,  his  long-cherished  plans  for  professional  life 
were  soon  after  this  interrupted  and  finally  abandoned ; 
and  he  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  at  Chaiiestown, 
where  he  was  married,  December  22,  1798,  to  Miss 
Lydia  Gorham,  daughter  of  Hon.  Nathaniel  Gorham. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  159 

From  this  time,  during  his  residence  there,  and  after- 
wards at  the  paternal  homestead  in  North  Andover, 
the  intercourse  of  the  two  families  was  so  constant  in 
person,  that  there  was  less  occasion  for  correspondence, 
although  we  propose  yet  to  introduce  in  another  place 
some  further  letters  which  passed  between  them. 

To  both  his  father  and  mother,  this  residence  of 
their  son,  near  them,  so  happily  settled  in  life,  was  a 
source  of  rich  enjoyment;  and  the  filial  veneration 
and  love  which  he  so  admirably  expresses  for  them  in 
the  preceding  correspondence,  it  was  his  study  and 
joy  to  manifest,  while  they  lived  to  be  gladdened  by 
it.  As  a  citizen  here,  he  was  eminently  public-spirited, 
devoting  a  large  portion  of  his  time  and  fortune  to 
one  &nd  another  enterprise  for  the  general  good,  with 
little  regard  for  the  effect  of  such  a  course  upon  his 
own  interests.  It  was  in  this  spirit,  as  well  as  in  the 
love  of  Christian  learning  and  in  his  filial  devotion  to 
his  mother's  wishes,  that  he  joined  with  prompt  mag- 
nanimity and  zeal  in  her  enterprise  of  founding  a  The- 
ological Institution  here,  and  so  connected  his  name 
with  hers  in  the  memory  of  all  who  shall  ever  read 
its  history.1 

1  Many  of  the  manuscripts  of  Col.  Phillips  in  our  hands,  espe- 
cially his  orations  delivered  on  various  occasions,  would  tempt  us  to 
dwell  more  largely  upon  his  literary  history,  as  affording  evidence  of 
rare  genius,  and  felicity  of  expression ;  but  this  would  draw  us  too 
far  aside  from  our  general  aims  in  this  memoir.  He  died  at  North 


160  MEMOIR     OF 

But  while,  through  his  early  years  of  promise  up- 
ward to  his  full  manhood  of  honor,  the  gratified  par- 
ents had  so  well  done  their  duty  to  this  son,  and  been 
so  well  rewarded,  they  had  been  called  to  a  far  differ- 
ent experience  in  connection  with  their  younger  son 
Samuel. 

Andover,  September  10,  1820,  aged  44,  leaving  a  family  of  thirteen 
children,  all  of  whom  are  yet  living. 

To  his  widow,  whose  recent  decease,  June  3,  1856,  has  been  al- 
ready mentioned,  we  have  been  under  special  obligations  in  these 
labors.  Her  delineation  of  incidents  in  Judge  Phillips's  life,  and  of 
traits  in  his  character,  with  her  portraiture  of  his  person,  his  manner, 
his  whole  appearance,  has  contributed  to  give  distinctness  to  our  con- 
ceptions of  him ;  and  the  affectionate  reverence  which  she  has  often 
expressed  for  him  has  served  to  bring  down  to  us,  over  the  wide 
chasm  of  years,  with  vivid  freshness  the  quality  as  well  as  the 
strength  of  those  impressions  which  he  everywhere  made.  He  was 
embalmed  in  her  memory  with  all  that  was  gladdening  in  the  palm- 
iest days  'of  her  home,  before  the  great  shadow  of  her  bereavement 
fell  upon  the  old  mansion,  and  hid  from  her  sight  the  husband'  of  her 
early  and  ardent  love. 

The  devoted  filial  reverence  of  her  numerous  family,  whose  train- 
ing devolved  upon  her  so  great  a  responsibility,  at  Col.  Phillips's 
decease,  is  now  her  best  eulogy.  Her  extraordinary  tact  and  energy, 
evinced  in  directing  their  education  and  in  the  oversight  of  whatever 
pertained  to  the  family,  her  quick  and  affecting  sympathy,  whenever 
any  of  them  have  been  called  to  taste  the  bitter  cup  of  affliction, 
together  with  her  unrivalled  social  qualities,  and  her  genial  benefi- 
cence of  spirit  toward  all,  guided  by  her  religious  habits,  have  not 
only  enshrined  her  in  the  hearts  of  the  family,  but  made  her  to  oth- 
ers, of  every  class,  an  unfailing  attraction  in  the  old  family  centre  to 
the  last. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  161 

The  junior  of  his  brother  by  nearly  six  years,  he 
knew  nothing  ol  the  disquiets  of  the  early  family  ex- 
periences. Thougix  born  in  one  of  their  transient  resi- 
dences, his  earliest  recollections  of  home  clustered 
about  their  spacious  mansion-house,  with  its  ample 
grounds  and  commanding  site.  He  grew  up  amid  a 
style  and  order  of  family  life,  now  in  the  full  meridian 
of  its  salutary,  ennobling  refinement.  His  very  nature 
too,  physical  and  mental,  was  of  the  most  exquisite 
mould. 

If  he  resembled  either  parent  more  than  the  other, 
his  was  the  image  of  his  calm,  sedate,  considerate  father; 
yet  in  his  deep  and  tender  sensibility,  the  noble  heart 
of  his  mother  could  be  seen,  reproducing  its  taste  and 
tone  in  every  winning  form.  Indeed,  there  was  a  pe- 
culiarly4 feminine  grace  and  sweetness  in  his  spirit,  and 
in  his  manner,  which  gave  a  charm  to  his  boyhood, 
without  essentially  marring  it. 

Though  often  merry  and  eager  in  boyish  sports, 
therefore,  he  would  as  often  suddenly  withdraw  from 
these  out-of-door  scenes,  and  nestle  fondly  by  his  moth 
er's  side,  to  pour  into  her  ear  his  accents  of  pity  fo) 
the  poor  of  whv>m  he  had  become  informed,  or  of  sad- 
ness at  the  misconduct  of  some  playmate  that  had 
come  to  his  notice,  adding  often  the  exclamation,  "  0 ! 
mamma,  how  much  better  it  is  to  be  a  good  boy,  than 
a  naughty  boy,  is  n't  it ! "  At  any  time,  if  she  was  at 
leisure  to  talk  with  him,  he  would  hasten  to  converse 

14* 


162  MEMOIR     OF 

upon  a  variety  of  subjects  with  a  solidity  of  views  and 
a  forecast  far  beyond  his  years,  but  especially  upon 
plans  of  doing  good,  as  his  favorite  theme.  Such  de- 
sires as  he  would  express  to  make  every  one  happy, 
such  suggestions  about  denying  himself,  or  taking  upon 
himself  the  charge  of  some  charity  in  order  to  relieve 
a  needy  one,  such  strains  of  pensive  sentiment  in  re- 
gard to  usefulness  in  his  subsequent  life,  often  sur- 
prised the  listening  mother's  heart,  and  made  it  throb 
with  strange  emotion.  If  ever  he  lapsed  into  any 
childish  error  of  conduct,  it  seemed  so  slight  in  com- 
parison with  what  is  to  be  expected  of  every  child, 
that  none  would  have  marked  it ;  yet  he  was  quick  to 
see  it,  and  to  confess  it  with  ingenuous  self-reproach. 
There  was  a  considerable  period  when  he  usually  slept 
with  his  teacher,  Mr.  Newman ;  and  his  gentle  heart, 
on  retiring  for  the  night,  would  habitually  first  confess 
the  faults  of  the  day  unasked,  and  then  with  a  child's 
prayer  sink  to  rest. 

His  education  was  carefully  planned  and  prosecuted, 
and  his  proficiency  correspondingly  great.  At  the 
A.cademy  exhibition,  when  he  was  about  thirteen  years 
of  age,  Mr.  Newman  proposed  his  reciting  upon  the 
stage  the  lines  of  Selkirk,  "  I  am  monarch  of  all  I 
survey,"  etc. ;  after  suitable  private  drilling,  he  ap- 
peared and  rehearsed  the  verses  with  so  much  grace, 
dignity,  and  pathos,  that  his  father  wept  for  very  joy, 
which  he  had  too  much  heart  to  repress.  The  child 


JUDGE     PHILLIPS.  163 

was,  at  this  time,  shooting  rapidly  up  to  the  stature  of 
manhood,  and  was  in  every  trait  so  much  a  man  in 
the  type  of  the  father's  high  ideal,  that  Judge  Phillips 
weighed  every  new  question  respecting  his  education 
with  especial  care. 

Of  all  the  long  guarded  relics  in  our  hands,  none 
appear  to  have  been  so  often  perused  in  the  family, 
until  worn  almost  to  shreds,  as  a  few  simple  letters 
from  his  pen,  which  we  here  give  entire. 

"  BOSTON,  November  2,  1794. 

"  HONORED  MAMMA,  —  I  have  been  trying  for  some  time  to 
form  an  acquaintance  with  the  Muses,  but  they  are  afraid  to 
come  nigh  me,  as  it  were,  for  fear  I  should  abuse  them.  On 
Saturday,  I  went  with  my  honored  aunt  to  Cambridge, 
and  attended  the  funeral  of  our  beloved  Russell,  —  hope  that 
instance  of  mortality  will  prove  a  happy  lesson  to  me,  and 
the  occasion  of  my  being  also  ready.  I  dined  at  Mr.  Gan- 
net's, — just  as  I  had  dined  I  saw  my  brother,  who  informed 
me  you  was  well,  which  news  rejoiced  the  heart  of  him  who 
is  constantly  thinking  of  you  and  that  last  farewell,  which  I 
was  very  sorry  was  not  agreeable  to  my  honored  papa ;  but 
hope  I  shall  conduct  in  such  manner  as  ever  to  merit  the 
approbation  of  both  my  parents. 

"  Please  to  give  my  respects  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Newman,  and 
duty  to  my  papa.  From  your  dutiful  son, 

«  S.  PHILLIPS." 

"  BOSTON,  November  5,  1795. 

"  HONORED  PAPA,  —  Yesterday  afternoon  I  received  the 
news  that  you  should  send  a  chaise ;  I  went  to  my  uncle's 


164  MEMOIR     OF 

immediately  and  delivered  the  message ;  my  aunt  was  very 
glad  because  she  was  not  ready. 

"  Please  to  give  my  duty  to  my  honored  mamma,  respects 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Newman,  love  to  brother,  and  please  to  re- 
ceive duty  from  him  who  feels  the  warmest  affection  towards 
his  parents,  who  is  sincerely  sorry  for  all  his  missteps,  and 
who  hopes,  by  the  assistance  of  Almighty  God,  that  his  con- 
duct will  ever  recommend  him  to  his  parents. 

From  your  dutiful  son,  S.  PHILLIPS." 

"  ANDOVER,  January,  1796. 

"  HONORED  PAPA,  —  A  week  has  elapsed,  and  I  have  not 
had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  from  you ;  therefore  I  conclude 
it  is  my  duty  to  remind  you  of  a  subject  which  has  been 
under  your  consideration  for  some  time,  but  through  the 
multiplicity  of  your  business  may  perhaps  have  at  this  time 
escaped  your  attention,  —  I  mean  Greek,  sir.  On  deciding 
which  subject,  I  suppose  depends  the  part  which  I  am  to  act 
on  the  theatre  of  life  ;  and  therefore  must  be  the  result  of 
cool  deliberation,  and  not  the  hasty  effusion  of  a  moment. 
By  means  of  its  not  being  determined  whether  I  was  to  go 
to  College  or  not,  you  may  naturally  suppose  I  have  not 
pursued  my  studies  with  that  eagerness  I  otherwise  should 
have  done ;  imagining  that  the  study  of  the  dead  languages 
would  be  of  little  or  no  use  to  me,  unless  I  put  them  into 
execution.  '  Riches,'  says  Dr.  Enfield,  '  instead  of  increas- 
ing our  benevolence  in  proportion  as  they  enlarge  our  oppor- 
tunities of  doing  it  (as  might  reasonably  be  expected),  how 
often  do  they  swell  the  heart  with  pride,  that  unsocial  and 
unfriendly  passion,  and  minister  to  the  flame  of  contention.' 
.  .  .  '  These,  however,'  says  he,  '  are  not  the  necessary  con- 


JUDGE     PHIL  LIPS.  165 

sequences  of  wealth.  In  the  heart  which  has  been  carefully 
cultivated  by  the  hand  of  wisdom,  it  produceth  far  different 
effects,  —  it  produceth  the  fruits  of  piety  towards  God,  and 
good-will  towards  man.'  .  .  .  And,  my  honored  papa,  if  for- 
tune prosper  me,  I  hope  I  shall  learn  of  the  good  old  patriarch, 
Abraham,  not  to  forget  the  God  who  giveth  power  to  get 
wealth.  Till  I  hear  from  you,  I  shall  continue  to  spend  my 
leisure  time  in  writing,  not  to  neglect  my  other  studies. 
Please  to  give  my  duty  to  my  uncle  and  aunts,  and  accept 
the  same  from  your  dutiful  son.  S.  PHILLIPS." 

Some  expressions  in  this  last  letter,  are  supposed  to 
refer  to  an  inquiry,  which  in  some  previous  commu- 
nication he  had  submitted  to  his  father,  whether  it 
would  not  be  best  to  appropriate  the  money  which  it 
would  cost  to  give  him  a  collegiate  education  to  some 
other  useful  object,  and  let  him  turn  to  a  life  of  busi- 
ness, as  his  sphere  of  usefulness.  He  is  said  to  have 
written  with  great  interest  and  artlessness,  to  convince 
his  father  that  so  much  money  would  do  more  good 
if  given  to  the  poor  or  to  some  other  such  use,  than 
if  expended  on  him. 

But  how -soon  and  suddenly  often  are  the  plans  of 
both  parents  and  children  dissipated  by  an  all-wise 
Providence !  On  the  back  of  this  very  letter,  the 
date  of  which  he  had  omitted,  is  the  following  memo- 
randum in  the  handwriting  of  Judge  Phillips :  — 

"Son  Sam'l;  say  Jan'y  25,  '96,  ab*  studying  Greek;  the 


166  MEMOIR     OF 

last  communication  to  his  father,  before  he  was  seized  witf 
the  fatal  fever  which  deprived  him  of  reason,  and  finished 
his  temporal  existence  Feb'y  8,  1796." 

The  stroke  fell  with  stunning  force  upon  every  heart 
in  the  family.  It  was  this  great  affliction  to  which  we 
have  alluded  as  having  so  salutary  a  religious  effect 
upon  the  mind  of  his  elder  brother. 

When  first  attacked  by  the  prevailing  epidemic, 
which  he  was  supposed  to  have  caught  at  a  funeral, 
and  which,  in  the  short  space  of  three  months,  swept 
about  twenty  others  into  the  grave,  the  fears  of  his 
parents  were  at  once  aroused,  as  he  was  soon  quite 
disordered  in  mind,  and  for  a  week  they  were  scarcely 
absent  from  him  an  hour ;  in  his  aberrations,  the 
loving  ascendency  of  his  teacher,  Mr.  Newman,  could 
recall  him,  and  win  him  to  take  his  medicines,  when 
he  seemed  to  recognize  no  other  voice. 

But  there  was  no  "power  to  retain  the  spirit"  in 
that  fair  form.  He  was  to  be  numbered  evermore 
with  the  children  that  are  too  good  for  earth ;  and, 
drowned  in  tears  together,  his  parents  bowed  to  the 
deep  affliction,  and  laid  him  in  their  tomb.  Those 
who  saw  them  on  that  day  of  sorrow,  will  never 
forget  how  they  trembled  and  sobbed,  yet,  in  all 
their  anguish  of  spirit,  murmured  not,  but  prayed  for 
grace  to  drink  their  bitter  cup. 

Let  the  voice  of  the  sorrowing  father,  first  break 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  167 

the  silence  in  which  we  bow  with  them  in  this  grief 
at  his  death.  We  extract  a  paragraph  from  a  brief 
letter  to  his  wife,  dated  Boston,  February  17,  1796 :  — 

"  I  feel  anxious  to  hear  of  your  health  and  state  of  mind, 
and  of  our  son's.  If  it  be  your  present  apprehension  that 
you  was  not  thankful  enough  for  the  enjoyment  of  our  dear 
departed  son  ;  may  we  not  be  hereafter  reminded  that  our 
grief  for  his  loss  produced  a  forgetfulness  of  the  importance 
of  remaining  mercies?  These  are  surely  very  many  and 
exceeding  great,  and  the  general  affectionate  sympathy  of 
friends  ought  by  no  means  to  be  reckoned  among  the  small- 
est of  them." 

Two  days  later,  he  adds  the  following :  — 

"BOSTON,  February  19,  17° 

"  I  am  much  obliged  by  your  favor  of  yesterday,  and  the 
useful  reflections  which  it  contained  ;  —  I  have  no  desire  tha* 
you  should  forget  the  dear  object  of  our  affections,  which  we 
have  been  lately  called  to  surrender  \  .ick  to  the  God  who 
lent  him  to  us.  It  would  be  in  vain,  if  I  were  to  desire  it, 
because  it  would  be  impossible ;  and  I  believe  it  would  be 
wrong  to  do  it  if  we  could. 

"  Much  advantage  may  be  derived  to  ourselves,  and  at  the 
same  time  honor  may  be  done  to  religion,  and  the  divine 
object  of  it,  by  a  suitable  remembrance  of  this  precious  LOAN 
OF  HEAVEN,  —  a  LOAN,  I  call  it,  because  I  think  all  our  richest 
temporal  comforts  may  be  more  properly  considered  in  this 
light  than  as  gifts.  The  Author  of  this  mercy  never  relin- 
quished his  right  in  it;  we  from  his  birth,  recognized  this 


j.68  MEMOIR    OF 

right,  and  took  the  first  opportunity,  in  the  presence  of  the 
congregation,  as  well  as  in  the  view  of  Heaven,  to  surrender 
Dack  the  lovely  visitant  to  its  Creator,  acknowledging  his 
perfect  right  to  dispose  of  him  as  should  seem  best  to  him. 
We  must  be  fully  convinced  that  the  best  possible  disposi- 
tion is  now  made  of  our  dear  child ;  and  should  not  this  con- 
viction produce  entire  resignation  ?  Should  we  be  willing 
to  oppose  and  disappoint  the  purpose  of  Infinite  Wisdom,  if 
it  was  in  our  power?  The  very  idea  excites  horror! 

"  Let  us,  then,  in  humble,  filial  submission,  acknowledge 
that  the  Supreme  Ruler  has  done  perfectly  right,  and  entreat 
that  we  and  others  may  learn  those  lessons  of  wisdom  which 
this  dispensation  is  designed  to  teach  us. 

"  Perhaps  one  of  the  first  of  these  lessons  is  our  entire, 
absolute,  universal  dependence  on  the  Infinite  Lord  and 
proprietor  of  all ;  we  are  extremely  apt  to  consider  the  enjoy- 
ments we  possess  as  our  own,  as  having  a  complete  right  in 
them  ;  whereas,  we  are  only  tenants  at  pleasure ;  and  every 
day  which  the  rightful  owner  protracts  our  possession  of  any 
of  his  favors,  he  increases  our  obligation.  .  .  . 

"  I  am  yours,  with  sincere  affection,  S.  P." 

In  a  letter  to  his  only  surviving  son,  he  says :  — 

"  BOSTON,  February  24,  1796. 

"  MY  DEAR  SON,  — ...  The  dispensations  of  Providence 
seem  plainly  to  admonish  me,  that  it  is  time  to  abstract  my 
attention  more  from  the  concerns  of  time,  and  to  direct  it  to 
nigher  objects  ;  within  a  few  years,  I  have  followed  to  the 
grave  both  my  parents,  a  beloved  uncle,  who  was  as  a  father, 
and  a  very  desirable  child ;  the  last  bereavement  speaks  an 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  169 

emphatic  language  to  the  afflicted  parents  and  brother  in  par- 
ticular ;  and  it  ought  to  be  our  daily  study  and  prayer  to 
learn  the  intention  of  Heaven  in  respect  to  us  personally ; 
if  every  instance  of  mortality  is  a  loud  call  to  the  living,  as 
it  undoubtedly  is,  what  careful  heed  is  to  be  given  to  the 
solemn  messenger  when  he  comes  into  our  chamber  to  our 
bed  and  takes  a  part  of  ourselves !  It  is  proper  on  such  an 
occasion  to  recollect  what  was  amiable  in  the  deceased,  and 
to  endeavor  to  transcribe  into  our  lives  whatever  was  con- 
formable to  our  divine  Exemplar.  I  was  pleased  to  find  you 
employed  in  writing  a  character  of  your  dear  brother;  and 
though  the  kindness  of  friends  rendered  your  care  unneces- 
sary for  the  particular  purpose  for  which  it  was  intended, 
yet  I  think  a  part  of  your  time  would  be  well  employed  in 
making  a  delineation  of  his  character  somewhat  particular ; 
it  would  afford  much  satisfaction  to  us  and  his  particular 
friends  in  the  review,  and  might  be  useful  to  youth  who 
might  be  made  acquainted  with  it ;  for  it  would  be  difficult 
for  us  to  name  the  youth  whose  character  might  with  more 
propriety  be  held  up  as  a  model  for  imitation.1 

1  The  following  paper,  in  the  handwriting  of  Mr.  John  Phillips,  but 
without  signature,  is  preserved  in  the  family,  and  is  doubtless  the 
"  character "  which  his  father  found  him  engaged  in  writing :  — 

"Died,  at  Andover,  February  8th,  1796,  Samuel  Phillips,  Jr., 
JEt.  14;  the  youngest  son  of  the  Hon.  Samuel  Phillips,  Esq." 

"  He  '  remembered  his  Creator  in  the  days  of  his  youth ; '  while  ten- 
derness and  filial  gratitude  marked  every  feature  of  his  countenance  ; 
his  every  action  was  dictated  by  benevolence.  Seldom  does  the  age 
of  childhood  exhibit  the  actions  of  a  man  ;  but  here  the  age  of  man- . 
hood  would  have  been  adorned  by  the  virtues  of  a  child. 

"  The  young  were  ever  happy  in  the  embraces  of  his  friendship  ; 

15 


170  MEMOIR    OF 

"  It  is  natural  for  us,  also,  to  inquire  how  far  we  discharged 
our  duty  to  the  object  of  our  affections,  who  is  separated 
from  us  ;  and  would  to  Heaven  I  had  less  cause  for  regret 
on  my  part  than  J  have  upon  this  review !  I  desire,  on  this 
account,  to  humble  myself  in  the  presence  of  my  Maker ; 
to  implore  his  forgiveness,  and  to  supplicate  his  grace  to 
quicken  me  in  the  discharge  of  remaining  duty.  The  time, 
my  dear  son,  is  short  —  how  short,  is  known  only  to  Omni- 
science !  How  greatly  does  it  concern  us  to  have  our  hearts 
formed  to  the  love  —  the  Supreme  love  —  of  infinite  perfec- 
tion!—  and  what  depravity  must  possess  those  hearts  that  are 
so  averse  to  the  love  of  such  an  object!  What  cause  for 
humility !  What  cause  for  earnest  importunity  for  purify- 
ing and  renovating  grace !  What  will  kingdoms  avail  with- 
out it!  In  that  situation  where  I  lately  beheld  my  dear 
child,  how  trifling  is  every  object  compared  with  the  favor 
of  the  Eternal  MAJESTY  OF  HEAVEN  !  and  this  favor  is  to  be 
obtained  in  the  days  of  health  and  ease,  rather  than  at  any 
period ;  it  is  hazardous  in  the  extreme  to  depend  on  securing 
it  at  any  other." 

As  an  illustration  of  "the  general  affectionate  sym- 

the  aged  viewed  with  fond  anticipation  his  conduct,  which  fairly 
warranted  future  usefulness.  His  parents  flattered  themselves  with 
hopes,  founded  upon  the  strength  of  his  mind,  and  on  the  goodness 
of  his  heart.  But  alas!  the  tender  heart  of  youth  must  weep;  old 
age  must  shed  a  tear  over  his  sleeping  ashes  ;  and  the  well-founded 
hopes  of  an  anxious  father  and  a  tender  mother  must  be  in  a  mo- 
ment blasted.  Early  his  Heavenly  Father  called  him  to  his  bosom. 
He  with  joy  obeyed,  smiled  duty  to  his  earthly  parents,  then  gave 
his  heart  to  Heaven." 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  171 

pathy  of  friends/'  to  which  Judge  Phillips  refers,  we 
will  here  insert  a  letter  written  now  to  the  only  son, 
by  Professor  Pearson,  of  Harvard  College  :  — 

"CAMBRIDGE,  loth  February,  1796. 

"  My  young  Mend,  son  of  my  friend,  permit  me  to  express 
on  paper,  what  words  failed  me  to  utter  when  I  last  met  you. 
Believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  my  heart  was  wrung  with  anguish 
for  you,  as  well  as  for  your  most  excellent,  most  afflicted 
parents.  Though  urged  on  by  an  irresistible  impulse,  it  was 
the  first  time  I  ever  approached  your  papa's  hospitable  dome, 
but  with  lively  emotions  of  pleasure.  But  on  that  sad,  that 
mournful  day,  my  fortitude  forsook  me,  and  a  strange  reluc- 
tance and  clread  of  meeting  my  distressed  friends  had  seized 
my  mind.  This  I  offer  as  an  apology  for  my  not  being  able 
to  address  you  as  I  wished,  on  that  melancholy  occasion.  Nor 
am  I  now  able  to  express  how  much  I  feel  for  your  situation. 
Suddenly  bereaved  of  a  beloved,  an  only  brother,  possessed 
of  every  quality  that  could  render  him  dear  and  amiable,  the 
wound  without  doubt  appears  incurable.  Your  high  expecta- 
tions are  instantly  disappointed,  and  every  purpose  of  your 
heart  concerning  him  broken  off.  But  you  will  remember 
that  this  is  the  good  pleasure  of  your  Father  in  heaven,  who 
knows  what  is  necessary  and  best  for  us,  whose  object  is 
invariably  the  same,  both  when  he  gives  and  when  he  takes 
away.  To  unerring  wisdom  it  has  seemed  good,  that  you 
should  bear  the  yoke  in  your  youth.  God  grant  you  every 
needed  support,  and  by  this  dispensation  teach  you  thus 
early  to  realize  the  danger  of  depending  on  any  of  the 
objects  of  time  and  sense  ! 

"  You  are  just  entering,  my  dear  young  friend,  upon  the 


172  MEMOIR    OF 

giddy  theatre  of  the  present  life  ;  such  a  visitation  is  admi- 
rably adapted  to  curb  our  ambition,  to  moderate  our  desires, 
and  to  tarnish  in  our  view  the  dazzling  objects  of  this  vain 
world.  Should  this  be  the  happy  consequence  of  this  event ; 
should  you  be  enabled  hereby  to  adopt  with  sincerity  the 
language  of  David,  '  whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  thee,  and 
there  is  none  upon  earth  that  I  desire  besides  thee,'  you 
would  have  reason  to  bless  God  for  this  early  chastisement 
all  the  days  of  your  life.  Your  dear  brother,  I  trust,  is 
happy.  Prepare  to  meet,  and  enjoy  him  forever.  Be  on 
your  guard  against  the  snares  of  this  delusive,  enchanting 
world ;  and  daily  seek  the  protection  and  blessing  of  heaven. 
Forget  not  to  pray  for  your  afflicted  parents ;  and  be  all  that 
to  them,  that  the  best  of  parents  can  wish,  or  that  affection- 
ate gratitude  can  dictate.  Not  that  I  suspect  the  goodness 
of  your  heart ;  for  with  unspeakable  satisfaction  have  I 
frequently  noticed  your  filial  respect  and  anxiety;  but 
because  I  feel  every  thing  for  your  bereaved  parents,  that 
the  sincerest  friendship  can  suffer ;  and  because  I  have  loved 
you  from  the  moment  of  your  birth  to  this  instant.  As  a 
pledge  of  this,  accept  these  hasty  lines,  with  my  best  wishes 
for  your  real  happiness  in  the  present  and  the  future  life. 
I  shall  always  be  happy  to  see  you,  but  especially  at  my 
own  house ;  let  me  request  this  pleasure  soon,  and  believe 
me  as  ever,  your  affectionate  and  now  your  tenderly  sympa- 
thetic friend  and  humble  servant,  E.  PEARSON. 
"  Mr.  JOHN  PHILLIPS." 

In  the  filial  tenderness  of  their  first-born  son  and 
especially  in  his  deep  religious  sympathy  with  them, 
the  parents,  in  this  crisis,  had  a  rich  solace ;  but  no 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  173 

balm,  human  or  divine,  could  at  once  heal  their  deep 
wound ;  nor  did  it  ever,  especially  in  her  heart,  fail  to 
bleed  afresh,  at  the  mention  of  Samuel's  name.  She 
could  never  hear  him  alluded  to,  years  afterwards,  even 
to  the  last  day  of  her  own  life,  it  is  said,  without 
bursting  into  tears,  though  she  loved  still  to  talk  of 
him,  and  disciplined  herself  in  all  her  sensibility  to 
speak  not  only  submissively  but  cheerfully. 

The  room  where  he  had  studied  and  slept,  was  not 
allowed  to  be  disturbed  in  the  slightest  particular  for 
nearly  fifteen  years,  until  the  removal  of  the  family 
compelled  it.  His  little  slate,  and  writing-book,  his 
pen,  and  sealingwax,  his  half-burned  candle,  his  violin, 
of  which  he  was  very  fond,  his  daily  text-books  in 
study,  his  child's  bed,  his  clothing,  every  thing  lay  or 
hung  precisely  as  he  left  it,  a  sacred  memento ;  and  so 
he,  though  dead,  spoke  daily  to  their  hearts,  lingering 
in  their  memory  and  tinging  all  their  habitual  life. 

While  thus  sharing  in  the  various  experiences  of  his 
strictly  domestic  life,  with  his  rare  treasures  in  his  wife 
and  children,  Judge  Phillips  and  his  family  held  a 
social  position,  in  his  town  and  in  the  country,  of  no 
less  interest.  It  will  be  remembered  how  early  he 
was  the  people's  candidate  for  public  offices  and  trusts, 
and  with  how  much  steadiness  through  all  changes 
they  showed  their  partiality  for  him,  by  their  full  votes 
year  after  year.  This  was  the  result  of  his  personal 

15* 


174  MEMOIR     OF 

popularity,  not  less  than  of  the  unlimited  confidence 
which  was  reposed  in  his  ability  and  integrity.  Even 
the  exasperated  partisan  strifes  of  the  Federalists  and 
anti-Federalists  did  not  alienate  from  him  the  cordial 
good-will  of  his  fellow-citizens,  although  he  was  inca- 
pable of  trimming  between  the  two  parties,  or  of  con- 
cealing, in  the  least  degree,  his  own  political  prefer- 
ences. The  popular  feeling  toward  him,  as  a  man  and 
a  friend,  was  always  stronger  than  any  merely  politi- 
cal prejudice,  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  town. 

In  the  village  around  his  mansion,  especially,  the 
willing  deference  paid  to  him  was  acknowledged  with 
so  much  simplicity  and  grace  of  manner  as  to  make 
him  a  universal  favorite.  On  the  Sabbath  and  other 
days  of  public  concourse,  as  he  passed  to  or  from  the 
church,  no  bow  was  made  to  him  which  he  did  not 
cordially  return,  and  men  have  repeatedly  told  us  that 
in  these  exchanges  of  village  courtesy  they  have 
seen  him  with  his  hat  off  half  of  the  time  from  the 
church  door  to  his  own. 

His  more  general  connections,  socially,  with  various 
classes  of  eminent  individuals  or  families  in  the  Com- 
monwealth, were  in  part  a  necessary  consequence  of  his 
own  civil  labors  in  such  a  variety  of  stations,  but  still 
more  of  the  attractiveness  and  weight  of  his  charac- 
ter. Judges  and  senators,  clergymen,  and  all  men  of 
letters,  eminent  merchants,  and  honored  patriots, 


JUDGE.   PHILLIP  S.  175 

officers  in  the  army,  and  distinguished  strangers  from 
other  lands,  received  his  highbred  civilities  without 
stint,  and  returned  them  without  measure.  When  he 
was  in  the  meridian  of  his  long  civil  career,  if  any 
had  a  higher  social  position,  no  man  in  the  State  had 
a  wider  or  more  elect  circle  of  honored  and  honorable 
personal  friends. 

He  was  among  the  few  whom  Washington,  in  his 
Presidential  tour,  honored  with  a  visit  at  his  mansion 
in  1789.  The  personal  acquaintance  of  Judge  Phillips 
with  this  illustrious  Father  of  his  country,  began,  as 
we  have  already  stated,  in  July,  1775,  at  Cambridge. 
During  the  sessions  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  at 
Watertown,  he  had  been  repeatedly  appointed  on  a 
committee  to  confer  with  the  Commander-in-Chief,  and 
from  this  period  all  his  early  impressions  respecting 
this  great  man  were  intensified.  With  him,  as  with  all 
others,  the  nearest  intercourse  with  Washington  only 
served  to  deepen  his  admiring  reverence  for  him.  At 
every  turn  in  the  fortunes  of  the  war,  Judge  Phillips 
watched  his  consummate  generalship  with  eager  inter- 
est; and  when  upon  the  reconstruction  of  the  form 
of  government,  Washington  was  elected  to  the  Chief 
Magistracy  by  acclamation,  Judge  Phillips  was  filled 
with  exulting  confidence  in  the  success  of  the  great 
republican  experiment. 

With   a   succession  of    greetings,   which   made   his 


176  MEMOIR    OF 

journey  from  Mount  Yernon  a  triumphal  march, 
Washington  had  repaired  to  New  York,  where  he  was 
inaugurated  on  the  30th  of  April.  After  thoroughly 
organizing  the  new  government,  and  setting  all  its 
wheels  in  motion,  he  deemed  it  due  to  himself  and  the 
country  to  make  a  tour  through  the  Eastern  States  in 
the  autumn.  His  arrival  at  Boston  was  on  Saturday, 
October  24th,  mounted  on  a  milk-white  charger,  and 
escorted  by  a  long  and  brilliant  military  and  civic  pro- 
cession, which  had  met  him  on  the  Neck  in  Roxbury. 

"  The  number  of  people  collected  to  see  their  beloved 
President,"  says  the  Centinel  of  October  31st,  "  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  compute.  The  streets  were  crowded, — 

•  You  would  have  thought  the  very  windows  moved, 
To  see  him  as  he  passed ;  so  many  young  and  old 
Through  casements  darting  their  desiring  eyes.' " 

When  he  reached  the  Old  State  House,  and  stepped 
out  upon  the  temporary  balcony  in  view  of  the  people, 
a  select  choir  instantly  sang  an  original  Ode  in  several 
stanzas,  of  which  the  first  was,  — 

"  Great  Washington  the  hero  comes, 
Each  heart  exulting  hears  the  sound, 
Thousands  to  their  Deliverer  throng, 
And  shout  him  welcome  all  around, 
Now  in  full  chorus  join  the  song, 
And  shout  aloud  Great  Washington."  ' 

1  The  streets  through  which  Washington  rode  from  the  Neck  were 
then  called  Orange,  Newbury,  Marlborough,  and  Cornhill,  but  were 
henceforth  named  collectively  Washington  street. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  177 

On  the  Sabbath  he  left  his  quarters,  on  the  corner 
of  Tremont  and  Court  streets,  where  the  store  of 
Pierce  now  stands,  only  to  attend  divine  worship  both 
parts  of  the  day  in  company  with  the  Hon.  James 
Bowdoin. 

On  Tuesday  he  received  formal  complimentary  ad- 
dresses from  Governor  Hancock,  in  the  name  of  the 
Commonwealth,  from  President  Willard  on  behalf  of 
the  University  at  Cambridge,  and  from  the  Society  of 
the  Cincinnati,  to  all  of  which  he  made  replies ;  and 
on  Wednesday,  he  sat  down  to  a  public  dinner  with 
the  elite  of  the  city  in  Faneuil  Hall. 

On  Thursday  morning  Washington  pursued  his  jour- 
ney to  Salem,  where  he  was  met,  escorted,  addressed, 
and  entertained  with  the  same  enthusiasm.  An  inci- 
dent here  occurred  which  greatly  pleased  him.  On 
being  introduced  to  the  selectmen,  their  chairman,  a 
sturdy  Quaker,  "  being  covered,  took  him  by  the  hand 
and  said,  Friend  Washington,  we  are  glad  to  see  thee, 
and  in  behalf  of  the  inhabitants,  bid  thee  a  hearty 
welcome."  On  his  way  from  Boston  to  Salem,  a  corps 
of  horse  from  Andover,  under  Captain  Osgood,  joined 
his  escort  at  Lynn,  consisting  of  upwards  of  fifty  men, 
in  red  uniforms  faced  with  green ;  and  this  company, 
which  had  rallied  at  the  instance  of  Judge  Phillips, 
continued  to  escort  the  President  on  his  tour  as  far 
as  Portsmouth. 

When  he  left  Salem  on  Friday,  to  please  the  citizens, 


178  MEMOIR    OF 

he  rode  out  on  horseback,  crossing  the  Essex  bridge, 
then  recently  erected  between  Salem  and  Beverly; 
and  it  is  chronicled  as  an  illustration  of  his  practical 
inquisitiveness,  that  after  passing  the  draw  at  the  chan- 
nel, he  dismounted  and  went  back  to  examine  carefully 
its  mechanism,  which  had  struck  him  as  very  ingenious. 
Proceeding  through  Beverly,  he  halted  at  Ipswich,  and 
was  duly  welcomed  by  an  address,  to  which  he  replied ; 
and  in  the  afternoon  he  reached  Newburyport,  where 
he  was  received  with  the  same  ceremonies. 

On  Saturday  he  was  welcomed  to  Portsmouth  by 
Governor  Sullivan,  who  had  served  under  him  as  a 
General  in  the  Revolution ;  the  civic  and  military  ar- 
ray here,  at  his  reception,  surpassing  any  thing  that 
had  yet  been  collected,  except  at  Boston;  and  the 
enthusiasm  of  all  classes  being  at  the  very  highest 
pitch,  as  they  had  been  hearing  day  after  day  of  his 
progress  in  state  from  Boston  eastward. 

Here,  as  at  Boston,  he  sacredly  observed  the  Sab- 
bath, the  Rev.  Mr.  Ogden  at  Queen's  Chapel  in  the 
morning,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Buckminster  at  the  Congrega- 
tional church  in  the  afternoon,  having  the  illustrious 
guest  for  a  hearer,  and  both,  in  the  style  of  the  times, 
"  felicitating  "  their  audience  upon  the  great  occasion 
of  his  visit.  At  Boston  he  had  sat  for  his  portrait  to 
the  artist  Johnson,  at  the  request  of  the  selectmen, 
who  designed  the  painting  for  Faneuil  Hall.  A  rival 
Boston  artist,  Gullaher,  followed  in  his  train  to  Ports- 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  179 

mouth,  and  there  the  President  did  him  the  honor  to 
sit  to  him  also. 

But  here  despatches  reached  him  which  led  him  to 
cut  short  his  tour,  and  hasten  to  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment. On  Wednesday,  November  4th,  he  reached 
Haverhill,  where  he  lodged  for  the  night.  Thursday 
morning  he  drove  early  to  Andover  and  breakfasted 
at  Deacon  Isaac  Abbott's  tavern,  in  the  house  now 
owned  by  Hon,  Amos  Abbott  and  lately  occupied 
by  Capt.  Edward  West.  Here,  as  he  stood  in  front 
of  the  house,  some  of  our  most  aged  citizens  remem- 
ber to  have  seen  him. 

While  tarrying  here,  he  asked  the  little  daughter 
of  Deacon  Abbott  to  mend  his  riding  glove  for  him ; 
and  when  she  had  done  it,  took  her  upon  his  knee 
and  gave  her  a  kiss,  which  so  elated  Miss  Priscilla, 
that  she  would  not  allow  her  face  to  be  washed  again 
for  a  week ! 

Leaving  the  inn  now,  the  President,  escorted  by 
Judge  Phillips,  and  many  others,  passed  along  by  the 
Old  South  Church  up  what  is  now  School  street,  to  the 
mansion  of  his  friend,  in  the  south-east  parlor  of  which 
he  was  entertained  for  half  an  hour  or  more  by  the 
Judge  and  Madam  Phillips  with  their  children  and 
guests.  The  moment  he  left  the  house,  Madam  Phil- 
lips tied  a  piece  of  ribbon  upon  the  chair  which  he 
had  occupied  during  the  interview,  and  there  it  re- 
mained ever  afterwards  until  the  day  of  his  death, 
when  she  substituted  for  it  a  band  of  crane. 


180  '  MEMOIR    OF 

Before  leaving  the  village.  General  Washington  sat 
a  while  upon  his  horse,  on  the  common  opposite  the 
mansion-house,  receiving  the  greetings  of  the  crowd, 
and  gratifying  them  by  a  full  view  of  his  majestic  per- 
son ;  and  then,  accompanied  still  by  Judge  Phillips  and 
the  cavalcade  which  he  had  collected,  the  party  passed 
down  what  is  now  Phillips  street  westward,  and  taking 
the  old  Wilmington  road  across  the  plain,  drove  to  Lex- 
ington, where  they  dined.  Here  with  Judge  Phillips 
and  a  few  others,  General  Washington  went  leisurely 
over  the  Revolutionary  battle  ground;  and  the  General, 
among  other  things  related,  it  is  said,  "  with  a  degree 
of  good-humor,"  an  anecdote  of  Dr.  Franklin.  "  The 
British,"  he  said,  "  complained  to  Dr.  Franklin  of  the 
ill  usage  their  troops  met  at  Lexington,  by  the  Yan- 
kees getting  behind  stonewalls  and  firing  at  them ; 
—  the  Doctor  replied,  by  asking  them,  whether  there 
were  not  two  sides  to  the  watt!" 

Parting  from  the  Judge  here,  the  General  hastened 
onward  in  his  return,  lodging  at  Watertown  that  night ; 
the  place  of  so  many  interesting  reminiscences  to  them 
both ;  the  next  night  he  was  at  Uxbridge,  and  on  Sat- 
urday of  the  next  week  he  reached  New  York.  These 
reminiscences  of  the  first  President's  tour,  in  connec- 
tion with  his  visit  to  Judge  Phillips,  prepare  us  to  ap- 
preciate the  feelings  which  both  he  and  Madam  Phil- 
lips so  fully  expressed,  in  letters  which  they  exchanged 
at  the  death  of  Washington.  We  find  a  letter  from 
his  pen,  in  these  words :  — 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  181 

"  BOSTON,  January  9,  1800. 

"  This  day  has  been  devoted  by  the  town  of  Boston  to 
commemorate  the  virtues  of  that  eminent  benefactor  of  his 
country,  and  distinguished  ornament  of  his  species,  whose 
death  we  all  deplore.  The  orders  of  procession  and  of  per- 
formances, which  will  be  herewith  forwarded,  will  give  you  a 
better  idea  of  the  plan  projected  than  I  can  communicate  in 
other  words;  and  it  was  executed  to- admiration.  Were  I  to 
undertake  to  describe  which  of  the  performances  was  most 
excellent,  the  task  would  be  difficult.  The  prayer  by  Dr. 
Eckley  was  not  exceeded  by  any  of  the  other  exercises.  The 
eulogium,  by  Judge  Minot,  was  composed  and  spoken  in  a 
manner  that  did  honor  to  himself  and  to  the  town,  as  well 
as  justice  to  the  occasion.1  The  hymn,  the  ode,  and  the  con- 
cluding lines  will  speak  for  themselves,  and  the  music  was 
equal  to  the  compositions. 

"  The  whole  commanded  the  undiverted,  solemn  attention 
of  a  crowded  audience ;  and  the  countenances  of  thousands 
expressed,  more  forcibly  than  language  can  describe,  that  un- 
feigned grief  of  heart,  which  is  an  higher  encomium  upon 
the  virtues  and  services  of  our  deceased  Father  than  ten 
thousand  eulogies.  Happy  will  it  be  for  us,  if  the  people  of 
the  United  States  act  consistently  with  themselves.  But 
how  absurd  will  they  appear,  if,  after  these  high  professions 
of  sorrow,  they  should  trample  underfoot  those  important 
instructions  of  wisdom,  which  he  gave  to  us  with  the  solem- 
nity of  a  dying  man.  You  will  probably  soon  have  an  op- 

1  This  eulogy  may  be  found  in  a  volume  of  "  Eulogies  and  Ora- 
tions on  the  Life  and  Death  of  General  George  Washington,"  pub- 
lished in  Boston  in  1800,  p.  19-29. 

16 


182  MEMOIROF 

portunity  of  reading  the  eulogium ;  and  I  wish  I  could  ob- 
tain a  copy  of  the  prayer;  they  would  afford  you  a  pleasing 
and  profitable  repast." 

From  a  letter  of  hers,  dated  February  23,  1800,  we 
select  the  following :  — 

"  Yesterday  being  fine,  I  attended  the  performance  of 
those  resolutions  made  by  the  town  to  meet  at  the  North 
Parish,  for  the  purpose  of  testifying  sorrow  for  the  removal 
of  so  great  and  good  a  man  as  General  Washington  from 
the  world. 

"  We  had  two  excellent  prayers  by  Messrs.  Symmes  and 
French,  and  an  oration  by  Son,  who  behaved  with  dignified 
composure  and  respect  for  his  subject  and  the  numerous  au- 
dience. I  do  n't  pretend  to  judgment  in  composition,  —  have 
seen  but  few ;  those  seemed  pleased,  and  't  is  said,  all  were 
gratified.  Mr.  B.  will  be  in  town  soon,  and  if  opportunity 
favors,  will  be  better  able  to  give  you  the  truth  than  I  am. 
The  music  was  very  pleasing.  I  believe  Son  is  very  glad 
it  is  over,  and  I  hope  it  may  be  of  advantage  to  him,  by  giv- 
ing him  a  hint  not  to  lay  aside  valuable  books,  and  may  lead 
him  to  attend  still  more  to  the  improvement  of  his  mind,  as 
he  must  find  it  necessary,  that  he  may  step  forth  on  any  pub- 
lic occasion,  with  confidence  in  his  abilities  to  do  justice  to 
his  subject,  and  thereby  produce  good  and  pleasing  effects  to 
the  world. 

"  I  am  sorry  you  could  not  have  been  here,  but  suppose 
you  was  agreeably  employed  at  the  time  at  the  church  in 

Brattle  street Here  allow  me  to  request  you  would 

be  particularly  careful  on  your  return ;  doubtless,  as  you  have 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  183 

been  so  long  absent,  this  air  and  our  accommodations  may 
affect  you  disagreeably,  therefore  think  it  will  be  wise  in  you 
to  fortify  yourself  as  to  clothing,  and  be  seasonable  in  your 
return  if  possible ;  you  will  excuse  me,  I  am  very  loth  you 
should  suffer  by  giving  us  pleasure. 

"  Mr.  French  has  given  us  two  good  sermons  to-day,  on 
the  subject  of  the  loss  of  near  friends,  with  some  good  direc- 
tions for  our  improvement  under  afflictions;  and  we  have 
had  an  affecting  scene  in  the  baptism  of  the  good  doctor's 
babe,  whom  he  has  given  the  name  of  Samuel  Moody.1  This 
will  gratify  you  very  much  ;  for  this  I  mention  it.  I  am 
rejoiced  you  are  so  well ;  pray  be  careful ;  certainly,  you  must 
have  very  strong  inducements  when  you  reflect  how  much 
pleasure  you  afford  your  friends,  and  what  benefit  your  ser- 
vices are  to  the  public. 

"  Present  my  duty,  if  you  please ;  I  am  very  glad  friends 
enjoy  so  much  as  they  do ;  and  pray  when  the  times  of  suffer- 
ing come,  support  from  an  Almighty  God  and  All-sufficient 
Saviour  may  be  their  portion." 

These  eager  listenings,  on  the  part  of  Madam  Phil- 
lips, to  every  new  suggestion  for  the  comfort  or  profit 
of  the  afflicted,  coupled  with  such  significant  cautions 
respecting  his  health,  were  not  wholly  retrospective. 
They  had,  it  is  true,  gone  down  together  often  into  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  with  departing  friends 
of  public  fame,  and  with  beloved  ones  from  the  circle 
of  their  family  kindred ;  and  the  thought  of  death 

1  The  name  of  Judge  Phillips's  early  instructor  at  Dummer 
Academy. 


184  MEMOIR    OF    JUDGE    PHILLIPS. 

could  never  now  come  up  without  reproducing  the  fair 
image  of  that  dear  son  for  whom  they  were  still  griev- 
ing. But  already  the  dim  presentiment  of  another 
and  yet  greater  sorrow  in  reserve  for  them,  was  at 
times  flitting  across  their  minds. 

Before  we  proceed  to  speak  of  this,  however,  we 
must  return  again,  and  trace  the  life  of  Judge  Phillips 
in  other  aspects,  as  connected  with  enterprises  and 
characteristics  which  distinguished  him,  even  more  than 
all  we  have  yet  mentioned,  from  his  earliest  manhood 
to  his  latest  age. 


CHAPTER   X. 

HIS    INTEREST   AND    AGENCY   IN   THE   CAUSE    OF   EDUCATION. 

IT  has  been  shown  in  a  former  chapter,  with  what 
zeal  and  ability  Judge  Phillips  contributed,  in  every 
practicable  way,  to  the  great  work  of  the  Revolution, 
and  how  persistently,  year  after  year,  he  discharged 
the  various  civic  trusts  committed  to  him.  Yet,  how- 
ever useful,  or  honored,  or  interested  he  was  in  such 
spheres,  it  was  his  sense  of  duty  in  obedience  to  the 
calls  of  Providence  and  in  his  desire  to  promote  the 
public  good,  more  than  his  natural  taste,  or  any  exist- 
ing inclination,  which  riveted  him  to  these  various  en- 
gagements. The  times  had  made  him  a  man  of  busi- 
ness; had  associated  him  with  powder  and  politics; 
had  agitated  him  with  public  cares,  and  consumed  him 
with  public  toils;  but  in  all  this  he  had  shown  how 
completely  a  far-seeing  patriot  scholar  can  sacrifice  his 
predilections  in  great  public  exigencies.  Neither  "  Gen- 
eral Court  life,"  as  we  have  seen,  nor  life  on  the  bench, 
was  entirely  congenial  to  him ;  although  at  a  time,  and 
amid  a  generation  of  statesmen,  which  made  any  such 
station  a  high  honor,  especially  for  a  young  man. 
16*  <185) 


186  MEMOIR     OF 

While  faithful  to  all  such  trusts,  therefore,  and  unri- 
valled for  his  industry  and  efficiency,  he  was  continu- 
ally indulging  other  impulses,  more  akin  to  his  native 
temperament  and  his  purely  intellectual  and  moral 
affinities. 

There  was,  as  we  have  seen,  a  hereditary  love  of 
learning  in  the  Phillips  family.  The  father  and  one 
of  the  uncles  of  Judge  Phillips  had  not  only  received 
a  collegiate  training,  but  on  graduating  had  succes- 
sively taught  the  grammar-school,  for  a  time,  in  his 
native  village,  while  his  revered  grandfather  was  exert- 
ing his  commanding  influence  over  the  schools  in  the 
south  precinct  of  the  town.  Yet,  when  he  came  to  fit 
for  College,  he  had  sought  the  advantages  of  the  infant 
and  unincorporated  Academy  at  Byfield,  as  the  best 
within  his  reach.  Nothing  had  yet  been  devised  in 
the  town  to  meet  the  wants  of  its  youth,  in  a  course 
of  liberal  study.  The  town  grammar-school  was,  how- 
ever, sustained  with  various  success,  year  after  year ; 
and  on  completing  his  college  curriculum,  Judge  Phil- 
lips became  at  once  conspicuous  for  the  interest  which 
he  manifested  in  this  school  and  the  others  throughout 
the  town.  His  influence  was  constantly  exerted  to 
procure  the  best  instructors,  and  to  enlist  the  zeal  of 
both  the  children  and  their  parents  in  improving  the 
standard  of  scholarship.  He  was  himself  a  frequent 
visitor  at  the  schools ;  and,  to  the  end  of  his  life,  with 
all  his  deep  interest  in  other  forms  of  education,  he 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  187 

continued  to  watch  over  the  common  schools  here,  and 
to  devise  methods  of  improving  them,  with  a  solicitude 
which  could  scarcely  have  been  greater,  if  each  one 
of  them  had  been  sustained  at  his  own  cost,  as  his  per- 
sonal enterprise. 

Some  years  after  his  removal  to  the  South  Parish, 
Mr.  William  Foster  proposed  to  open  a  select  school  for 
a  limited  number  of  young  lads,  most  of  whom  were  to 
be  also  members  of  his  family.  To  this  effort  Judge 
Phillips  gave  the  aid  of  his  personal  inspection,  as  well 
as  his  hearty  recommendation,  and  for  a  period  of  many 
years,  "  Master  Foster's  school "  was  widely  known.1 

Nor  was  it  in  his  own  town  merely,  that  his  habitual 
zeal  in  the  cause  of  education  manifested  itself.  In 
his  address  to  the  grand-jury,  from  which  we  have 
quoted,  it  will  be  remembered  how  sagaciously  he 
watched  for  the  welfare  of  the  public  schools  in  the 
county ;  calling  attention  to  the  demands  of  the  law, 
and  enforcing  legal  obligation  by  the  lessons  of  reason 
and  experience.  His  office  as  senator,  also,  placed  him 
for  twenty  years  upon  the  Board  of  Overseers  of  Har- 
vard College,  where  his  pertinent  addresses  at  the  close 
of  the  class  examinations,  from  time  to  time,  are  still 
remembered  by  his  surviving  friends.  "  It  was  a  rare 
thing,"  says  Dr.  Eliot,  "to  find  him  absent  from  the 
Board  of  Overseers  of  the  University.  He  was  often 

1  Records  of  Phillips  Academy,  p.  117. 


188  MEMOIR    OF 

on  committees,  and  improved  the  opportunities  to 
render  essential  services  to  the  place  of  his  educa- 
tion."1 An  outline  of  one  of  his  addresses  to  the 
Senior  Class  at  their  final  examination,  is  preserved. 

"  We  have  received,"  he  says,  "  much  satisfaction  in  the 
examination  which  has  now  closed ;  not  only  in  the  evidence 
given  of  your  improvement  in  the  various  branches  of  study 
you  have  pursued,  —  evidence  which  at  once  bears  honora- 
ble testimony  of  the  ability  and  fidelity  of  your  instructors, 
as  well  as  of  the  docility  and  application  of  the  pupil ;  but 
especially  from  observing  that  order,  regularity,  and  decorum, 
which  have  done  credit  to  the  first  class  of  the  first  Univer- 
sity in  the  United  States. 

"  Your  last  examination  in  the  ancient  and  respectable 
seat  of  science  being  closed,  it  may  not  be  deemed  improper 
for  those  who  sustain  the  office,  and  ought  to  possess  the 
affection  of  guardians,  to  make  some  expression  of  that  affec- 
tion at  this  last  opportunity  of  the  kind  they  will  have  for  it. 
After  closing  your  collegiate  life,  it  will  be  natural  to  make 
a  solemn  pause,  and  take  a  serious  review  of  the  scenes  you 
have  passed,  and  at  the  bar  of  your  own  breasts  to  decide 
impartially  upon  the  several  parts  of  your  characters  and 
conduct,  so  far  as  you  can  recollect  them ;  those  of  them 
which  receive  the  honest  approbation  of  cool,  unprejudiced 
reason,  will  prove  a  fruitful  source  of  enjoyment  through 
life,  and  afford  a  powerful  incentive  to  the  practice  of  wisdom 
in  future. 

"  If,  in  the  course  of  your  scrutiny,  you  find  occasions  for 

1  Eliot's  Biog.  Die.  p.  379,  380. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  189 

regret,  (and  you  will  be  fortunate  beyond  the  lot  of  other 
mortals  if  you  do  not,)  it  will  be  natural  to  place  a  double 
guard  against  those  dispositions  or  habits  which  furnished 
these  occasions,  and  to  caution  others  against  the  errors 
which  may  have  marred  your  comfort. 

"  You  will  soon  enter  upon  the  broad  theatre  of  active 
life  ;  and  fortunate,  indeed,  will  you  be,  if  you  each  select 
that  part  to  act,  which  you  are  qualified  to  perform,  with 
most  advantage  to  the  public,  and  reputation  to  yourselves. 

"  The  field  for  usefulness  is  immense ;  the  number  of  skil- 
ful, faithful  laborers  is  small.  Perhaps  at  no  period  has  your 
country  had  larger  claims  on  the  abilities  and  virtue  of  its 
present  citizens,  and  of  those  who  will  soon  cooperate  with 
or  succeed  them.  Those  who  are  the  best  husbands  of  time 
and  opportunities  for  improvement,  will  never  have  occasion 
to  complain  of  redundant  qualifications  for  any  important 
department;  multitudes  have  lamented  their  deficiency  in 
them. 

"  As  the  season  for  acquiring  these  qualifications  is  short, 
it  is  important  that  your  attention  should  be  mainly  directed 
to  those  studies  which  are  best  adapted  to  qualify  you  for 
your  intended  profession ;  and  let  your  intended  profession 
or  pursuit  be  what  it  may,  we  feel  ourselves  authorized  to 
say,  that  no  book  will  so  well  recompense  your  study  of  it, 
as  the  Holy  Scriptures  ;  nay,  that  a  whole  life  spent  in  the 
closest  researches  to  all  other  books,  will  leave  you  essentially 
wanting,  if  you  neglect  this  treasury  of  Divine  knowledge." 

In  these  labors  connected  with  the  University,  Judge 
Phillips  not  only  had  opportunities  for  imparting  such 
well-considered  counsel  to  the  students,  but  was  kept 


190  MEMOIR    OP 

in  constant  intercourse  with  the  Faculty,  and  with  a 
large  circle  of  literary  friends,  of  which  Cambridge 
was  the  centre.  It  was  here  that  "  the  American 
Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences"  originated  in  1780, 
of  which  he  was  one  of  the  members  named  in  the 
Act  of  Incorporation,  which  was  passed  on  the  4th  of 
May,  before  the  new  Constitution  of  the  State  had  been 
completed.  Besides  the  President  and  Professors  of 
Harvard  College,  and  distinguished  clergymen  in  Bos- 
ton and  the  vicinity,  many  of  his  associates  in  this 
society  were  the  same  eminent  men  with  whom  he 
had  labored  in  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  that 
year,  and  in  the  Legislature  during  the  previous  five 
years.1 

During  the  collegiate  course  of  his  son,  in  the  year 
1793,  the  University  conferred  upon  him  the  honorary 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws,  as  a  just  tribute  to  his  vari- 
ous public  services,  and  to  his  zeal  in  promoting  the 
cause  of  learning  through  so  many  years,  and  in  such 
a  variety  of  forms ;  an  honor  which,  at  that  day,  was 
enjoyed  by  but  few  among  all  the  eminent  Alumni 
of  the  College. 

It  was  not,  however,  by  any  such  general  services 
in  connection  with  Harvard  or  elsewhere,  that  he 
earned  a  title,  above  others,  to  special  consideration 
as  a  patron  of  learning,  although  in  every  such  agency 

1  Acts  and  Laws  of  Massachusetts,  1780,  Chap.  XVI. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  191 

he  was  second  to  none.  Another  and  more  lasting 
work  in  the  cause  was  also  occupying  him,  as  we  have 
already  intimated,  from  his  early  manhood,  through 
his  entire  career.  HE  WAS  THE  PROJECTOR  AND  CHIEF 
PATRON  OF  PHILLIPS  ACADEMY. 

His  plans  and  efforts  to  establish  this  Institution 
were  the  favorite  work  of  his  life.  We  have  seen 
with  what  ardor  he  enlisted  in  the  great  Revolution- 
ary struggle;  how  laboriously  he  discharged  his  vari- 
ous civic  trusts ;  how  carefully  he  inspected  his  nu- 
merous private  affairs  ;  with  what  watchfulness  he 
sought  the  welfare  of  his  family,  and  with  how  much 
interest  he  identified  himself  for  the  time  with  every 
other  work,  however  transient,  in  which  he  engaged ; 
yet  in  all  this  he  did  not  once  forget  his  foster-child, 
the  Academy;  but  bore  it  on  his  heart  and  in  his 
hand,  with  an  intensity  of  devotion  to  its  interests 
greater  than  he  ever  manifested  for  any  other  object. 
His  zeal  here  was  like  the  life-long  enthusiasm  of  an 
inventor,  watching  the  machinery  which  he  has  con- 
structed, and  meditating  every  possible  improvement 
upon  it;  or  the  glow  of  an  artist  in  his  studio,  admir- 
ing and  retouching  the  best  productions  of  his  creative 
mind.  We  should,  therefore,  do  special  injustice  to 
him,  and  to  our  own  aims  in  this  Memoir,  if  we  did  not 
enter  with  some  degree  of  minuteness  into  the  history 
of  his  connection  with  so  great  a  work. 


192  MEMOIR     OF 

It  will  be  remembered  that  when  he  graduated  from 
College,  it  was  with  such  distinction  as  gave  the  high- 
est promise  of  future  eminence  in  professional  life. 
His  talents,  scholarship,  character,  and  social  rank,  all 
justified  the  highest  aspirations.  He  was,  moreover, 
an  only  son,  the  heir  to  ample  estates,  which  pa- 
rental industry  and  frugality  were  still  augmenting; 
and  his  childless  uncle,  Dr.  John  Phillips,  at  Exeter, 
had  conceived  a  special  fondness  for  him,  and  had 
intimated  his  intention  of  making  him  the  chief  heir 
to  his  large  fortune  also.  If  the  prospect  of  wealth, 
enriched  by  the  kindliest  attachments,  could  have 
dazzled  him,  it  was  here.  There  was  an  affair  of  the 
heart,  too,  exerting  its  full  influence  over  him;  and 
because  of  this,  the  dark  cloud  of  parental  displeasure 
was  hanging  over  his  head,  and  reflecting  its  shadow 
into  his  heart ;  while,  to  crown  all,  the  liberties  of 
his  country  were  in  extreme  peril,  and  he  was  drawn 
irresistibly  into  the  vortex  of  war. 

Yet  it  was  in  the  very  midst  of  influences  within 
and  without  so  alien  from  any  new  literary  project, 
that  he  gradually  developed  the  plan  of  establishing 
a  Classical  Academy  in  his  native  town  !  and  the 
mode  in  which  he  proposed  to  execute  the  enterprise, 
was  especially  in  conflict  with  these  obstacles.  His 
plan  was  first  to  persuade  his  exact  and  frugal  father, — 
now  in  a  measure  inclined  to  distrust  his  judgment, 
since  the  matrimonial  misstep,  as  he  considered  it, — 


:    - 

•iate  ii 
although  in  IV; 

i  ibe   this  }< 

1  in  pi  he  enterpri 

spicuo 

a  great  era  in  t» 

• 

>ded  itself  chiefly  in  the  w< 
;ig  and  investing  propert}' 
work  of  using,  or  rat 

isely,  was  to 
ngs  or  modifi; 

•  re  un.'i 

• 
erial  changes 

necialh 

iated  S 


both  ome 

valu; 


' 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  193 

and  then  his  partial  uncle,  to  endow  the  school  as  its 
joint  FOUNDERS  ;  thus  diverting  from  himself,  as  their 
prospective  heir,  the  property  which  they  should  con- 
sent to  devote  to  this  object.  These  proposed  founders 
were  men  to  appreciate  his  plan,  but  not  to  have  origi- 
nated it;  although  in  his  modesty,  he  was  inclined 
sometimes  to  ascribe  this  honor  to  his  uncle,  whose 
zeal  in  prosecuting  the  enterprise  was  especially  con- 
spicuous. 

It  was  a  great  era  in  their  lives,  when  they  took 
his  project  into  serious  consideration.  Trained  to 
habits  of  rigid  economy,  their  energy  in  business  had 
hitherto  expended  itself  chiefly  in  the  work  of  accu- 
mulating and  investing  property  successfully ;  now  the 
greater  work  of  using,  or  rather  of  appropriating  their 
property  wisely,  was  to  be  decided.  With  what  mis- 
givings or  modifications  they  at  first  encouraged  the 
enterprise,  and  finally  committed  themselves  fully  to 
it,  we  are  unable  to  state ;  but  it  is  well  ascertained, 
that,  in  their  minds  and  his  own,  there  were  very 
material  changes  from  the  inception  of  the  project  to 
its  completion;  especially  in  respect  to  the  character 
and  location  of  the  contemplated  School,  if  not  as  to 
its  existence.  Doubtless  the  solid  judgment  and  en- 
larged experience  of  two  such  liberally  educated  men, 
both  of  whom  had  been  teachers,  helped  to  give  some 
valuable  features  to  the  proposed  effort ;  but  there  i«j 
abundant  evidence,  that  the  originating  process  was 
17 


194  MEMOIR     OF 

distinctively  his ;  and  that  in  the  ultimate  embodying 
of  their  combined  counsels,  he  had  a  leading  agency 
to  which  they  deferred. 

At  first,  as  we  learn  from  one  of  the  documents  in 
our  hands,  the  proposed  Institution  was  designed  by 
the  Founders  to  be  rather  a  private  establishment, 
under  his  personal  supervision,  than  a  public  High 
School.  The  entire  endowment,  in  lands,  buildings, 
and  funds,  was  to  be  made  over  to  him  personally 
in  trust,  and  to  vest  in  him ;  and  the  Founders  with 
seven  others,  were  to  be  Trustees  of  the  School,  under 
a  Constitution  in  many  important  particulars  like 
the  one  finally  adopted;  while  he,  in  the  language 
of  the  Indenture  which  was  drawn  between  the  parties, 
covenanted  to  "  stand  seized  forever  of  the  lands  and 
monies  aforesaid  to  and  for  the  uses  and  purposes,  and 
upon  the  trusts  aforesaid,  and  for  no  other  purpose 
whatsoever." 

The  manuscript  of  this  Indenture  before  us,  in  hk 
hand,  is  a  literary  curiosity.  It  embodies,  almost  as 
fully  as  the  subsequent  Constitution  of  the  Academy 
does,  and  to  a  large  extent  in  the  same  phraseology, 
his  long-pondered  and  thoroughly  matured  ideas  of 
the  character  of  his  School,  while  the  hundreds  of 
changes  in  its  diction,  page  after  page,  from  the  firjt 
form  of  expression  used,  show  that  every  sentence 
was  most  carefully  elaborated,  every  word  repeatedly 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  195 

weighed.  The  instrument  is  without  date,  but  was 
written  some  time  in  1777. 

While  thus  digesting  his  views  and  approximating 
his  ideal  of  the  projected  Institution,  the  question  of 
its  location  was  agitated.  Earnest  and  repeated  efforts 
were  made  to  obtain  a  suitable  site  for  it  in  the  North 
Parish,  near  his  own  and  his  father's  residence.  It  was 
a  wise  point  entirely  settled  in  the  plan  of  the  found- 
ers to  have  ample  grounds,  even  if  they  should  not 
have  at  first  an  expensive  building.  But  no  negotia- 
tion could  procure  the  locality  which  they  were  most 
anxious  to  have,  —  the  present  site  of  Dr.  Kittridge's 
house,  and  adjacent  grounds,  —  and  with  deep  regret 
they  were  compelled  to  look  elsewhere. 

In  January,  1777,  —  a  single  year  only  subsequent  to 
the  first  movement  in  the  powder-mill  enterprise, — 
the  first  purchase  of  lands  for  founding  the  Academy 
was  made  of  Solomon  Wardwell,1  in  the  South  Parish ; 
in  March  another  tract  was  bought,  and  in  January, 
1778,  still  another,  making  together  about  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres.2  Upon  the  tract  included  in  the 
second  purchase,  was  the  old  dwelling,  to  which  Judge 
Phillips  first  moved  from  the  North  Parish ;  taking 
possession,  so  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  very  soon  after 
the  purchase,  as  it  was  his  wish  to  be  constantly  able 

1  Father  of  the  late  Dr.  Daniel  Wardwell  of  Andover. 

2  A  tract  of  200  acres  in  New  Hampshire  was  also  added. 


196  MEMOIR    OF 

to  direct  in  person  the  arrangements  for  the  opening 
of  the  school.1  Soon  after  completing  these  purchases, 
all  of  which  were  made  in  his  father's  name  and  at  his 
father's  expense,  he  obtained  from  his  uncle  at  Exeter 
a  bond  for  the  payment  of  his  proposed  share  of  the 
endowment  in  money.  This  bond  is  dated  May  29, 
1777,  and  is  in  Judge  Phillips's  handwriting,  together 
with  the  various  indorsements  of  payments  on  it;  as, 
indeed,  is  nearly  every  other  paper  also  connected  with 
the  whole  transaction. 

An  old  joiner's  shop,  included  in  the  first  purchase, 
was  immediately  removed  and  fitted  up  as  the  first 
school-room  for  the  Institution,  standing  on  the  corner 
of  our  present  Main  and  Phillips  streets,  upon  the  south 
side  of  Mr.  Farrar's  door-yard.  It  was  a  rude  build- 
ing, of  one  story,  about  thirty-five  by  twenty  feet,  done 
off  temporarily  in  the  plainest  manner  for  the  purpose, 
and  not  intended  to  accommodate  more  than  thirty  or 
forty  scholars.  Meanwhile  the  proposed  constitution 
of  the  Academy  was  again  and  again  retouched,  until, 
as  the  time  for  opening  the  Institution  drew  near,  the 
plan  of  vesting  the  whole  directly  in  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  rather  than  in  Judge  Phillips  personally,  was 
adopted ;  and  the  deed  of  gift  and  constitution  were 
modified  in  conformity  with  this  view. 

There  is  one  most  important  paragraph  of  consid- 

1  See  Appendix  G. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS. 


erable  length  in  the  constitution  as  finally  adopted, 
which  appears  in  the  draught  of  the  Indenture  already 
referred  to,  not  as  it  was  first  written,  but  inserted  on 
a  separate  leaf  as  an  after-thought.     It  is  the  passao-e 
commencing    with   the   words,   "and    whereas   many 
f  the  students  in  this  Seminary  may  be  devoted  to 
the  sacred  work  of  the  Gospel  ministry  "_  toward  the 
end  of  the  instrument,  in  which  so  much  prominence 
i  given  to  the  anticipated  religious  character  of  the 
institution,  and  which  embodies  a  summary  of  the  doc- 
trines which  were  to  be  inculcated.     This  paragraph, 
a  foe  mmile  of  which,  as  originally  written,  we  here' 
insert,  not  only  gave  emphasis  to  the  entire  religious 
tone  of  the  constitution,  but  was  the  germ  of  a  course 
Theological  study  which  was,  at  a  later  day,  intro- 
iced  into  the  Academy,  and  led,  at  last,  to  the  found- 
mg  of  a  separate  Theological  Department. 

Yet  with  all  this  slow  growth,  and  these  many  revis- 
ions,  the  copy  of  the  constitution,  as  engrossed  and 
adopted  at  the  founding  of  the  school,  shows  an  occa- 
ional  erasure  or  interlineation,  by  the  careful  hand 
that  had  drawn  it,  in  order  to  make  its  diction  still 
more  perfect.     This  document,  written  by  Judge  Phil- 
lips, with  even  more  than  his  usual  neatness,  was  pre- 
served as  a  keepsake,  after   his  decease,  by  Madam 
Phillips,  until,  at  her  death,  it  was,  by  her  request,  de- 
posited in  the  Archives  of  the  Institution.     With  these 
statements  respecting  it,  we  here  insert  it  in  full. 

- 


y  / 


198  MEMOIR    OF 

CONSTITUTION   OF  PHILLIPS  ACADEMY. 

"  A  short  reflection  upon  the  grand  design  of  the  great 
Parent  of  the  Universe  in  the  creation  of  mankind,  and 
the  improvements  of  which  the  mind  is  capable,  both  in 
knowledge  and  virtue,  as  well  as  upon  the  prevalence  of  igno- 
rance and  vice,  disorder  and  wickedness,  and  upon  the  direct 
tendency  and  certain  issue  of  such  a  course  of  things,  must 
occasion,  in  a  thoughtful  mind,  an  earnest  solicitude  to  find 
the  source  of  these  evils  and  their  remedy ;  and  a  small  ac- 
quaintance with  the  qualities  of  young  minds, — how  suscep- 
tible and  tenacious  they  are  of  impressions,  evidences  that 
youth  is  the  important  period,  on  the  improvement  or  neglect 
of  which  depend  the  most  important  consequences  to  individ- 
uals themselves  and  the  community. 

"  A  serious  consideration  of  the  premises,  and  an  observa- 
tion of  the  growing  neglect  of  youth,  have  excited  in  us  a 
painful  anxiety  for  the  event,  and  determined  us  to  make,  in 
the  following  conveyance,  a  humble  dedication  to  our  Heav- 
enly Benefactor  of  the  ability  wherewith  he  hath  blessed 
us,  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  public  free  School  or  Academy 
for  the  purpose  of  instructing  youth,  not  only  in  English  and 
Latin  Grammar,  Writing,  Arithmetic,  and  those  sciences, 
wherein  they  are  commonly  taught ;  but  more  especially  to 
learn  them  the  great  end  and  real  business  of  living. 

"  Earnestly  wishing  that  this  Institution  may  grow  and 
flourish ;  that  the  advantages  of  it  may  be  extensive  and 
lasting ;  that  its  usefulness  may  be  so  manifest,  as  to  lead  the 
way  to  other  establishments  on  the  same  principles ;  and  that 
it  may  finally  prove  an  eminent  means  of  advancing  the  in- 
terest of  the  great  Redeemer,  to  His  patronage  and  blessing 
we  humbly  commit  it. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  199 

"  KNOW  ALL  MEN  BY  THESE  PRESENTS,  that  we,  Samuel 
Phillips  of  Andover  in  the  County  of  Essex  and  State  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  Esquire,  and  John  Phillips  of  Exeter  in 
the  County  of  Rockingham  and  State  of  New  Hampshire, 
Esquire,  for  the  causes  and  considerations,  and  for  the  uses 
and  purposes,  hereinafter  expressed,  have  granted,  and  do  by 
these  presents  grant  unto  the  Hon.  William  Phillips,  Esq., 
Oliver  Wendell  and  John  Lowell,  Esquires,  of  Boston  in  the 
County  of  Suffolk  and  State  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  the  Rev. 
Josiah  Stearns  of  Epping  in  the  County  of  Rockingham  afore- 
said, Elias  Smith  of  Middleton,  William  Symmes  and  Jon- 
athan French,  Clerks,  Messrs.  Samuel  Phillips,  Jun.,  and  Eli- 
phalet  Pearson,  Gentlemen,  and  Mr.  Nehemiah  Abbot,  Yeo* 
man,  all  of  Andover  aforesaid,  and  to  their  heirs,  all  the  Right, 
Title,  and  Interest,  either  of  us  have  in  certain  parcels  of  land, 
hereafter  mentioned,  namely. 

"  In  three  several  pieces  of  land,  situate  in  Andover  afore- 
said ;  the  first  of  which  contains  about  twelve  acres,  the  sec- 
ond piece  contains  about  twenty-eight  acres,  the  third  piece 
contains  about  thirty  acres,  being  lately  part  of  the  estate  of 
George  Abbot,  Esq.,  deceased,  and  conveyed  by  Capt.  Joshua 
Holt,  Administrator  on  said  estate,  to  Samuel  Phillips,  Esq., 
aforesaid,  March  first,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-seven; —  likewise  two  other  parcels  of  land  in  said 
Andover,  situate  near  the  two  first-mentioned  pieces,  contain- 
ing about  thirty-nine  acres,  conveyed  by  Solomon  Wardwell 
to  said  Phillips,  January  twenty-fourth,  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  seventy-seven,  together  with  all  the  buildings 
on  said  lands ;  —  likewise  two  other  pieces  of  woodland,  sit- 
uate in  said  Andover,  containing  about  thirty-two  acres,  con- 
veyed by  Nehemiah  Abbot  to  said  Phillips,  January  twelfth, 


200  MEMOIR    OF 

one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-eight ;  —  likewise 
about  two  hundred  acres  of  land  in  the  town  of  Jaffrey  in 
the  county  of  Cheshire  and  State  of  New  Hampshire,  con- 
veyed by  John  Little  to  said  Phillips,  September  fourth,  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-seven. 

"  And  the  said  Samuel  Phillips  and  John  Phillips  do  also 
further  give,  assign,  and  set  over  unto  the  said  William  Phil- 
lips, Oliver  Wendell,  John  Lowell,  Josiah  Stearns,  William 
Symmes,  Elias  Smith,  Jonathan  French,  Samuel  Phillips,  Jr., 
Eliphalet  Pearson,  and  Nehemiah  Abbot,  and  to  their  heirs, 
the  sum  of  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  fourteen  pounds,  to 
have  and  to  hold  the  same  land  and  the  same  sum  of  money 
to  them  and  to  their  heirs,  to  the  use  and  upon  the  trust, 
hereafter  mentioned. 

"  The  lands  shall  be  let  out  on  proper  terms,  and  the  said 
sum  of  money  put  to  interest  on  good  security,  or  both  im- 
proved in  such  way  as  shall  be  found  on  the  whole  most 
beneficial ;  and  the  whole  of  the  Rents,  Profits,  Issues,  and 
Interest  of  said  land,  and  of  said  sum  of  money,  shall  be  for 
ever  appropriated,  laid  out,  and  expended,  for  the  support  of 
a  public  free  School,  or  Academy,  in  the  south  parish  in  the 
town  of  Andover  aforesaid,  in  manner  and  form  following. 

"  The  said  Samuel  Phillips  and  John  Phillips  shall,  together 
with  the  before-named  William  Phillips,  Oliver  Wendell, 
John  Lowell,  Josiah  Stearns,  William  Symmes,  Elias  Smith, 
Jonathan  French,  Samuel  Phillips,  Jr.,  Eliphalet  Pearson, 
and  Nehemiah  Abbot,  be  Trustees  of  said  School ;  and  here- 
after the  Master,  for  the  time  being,  shall  ever  be  one  of  the 
Trustees ;  a  major  part  shall  be  laymen  and  respectable  free- 
holders ;  also  a  major  part  shall  not  consist  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  town  where  the  Seminary  is  situate. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  201 

"  The  Trustees  shall  meet  on  the  last  Tuesday  of  April 
instant ;  and  ever  after,  once  in  every  year,  on  such  day  as 
they  shall  appoint ;  also,  upon  emergencies,  when  called 
thereto,  as  hereafter  directed ;  and  a  major  part  of  the  Trus- 
tees shall,  when  regularly  convened,  be  a  quorum ;  of  which 
quorum  a  major  part  shall  have  power  to  transact  the  busi- 
ness of  their  trust,  except  in  cases  hereafter  excepted ;  and 
their  first  meeting  shall  be  at  the  dwelling-house  on  the 
lands  purchased  of  Captain  Joshua  Holt,  where  Samuel 
Phillips,  Jr.  now  resides,  at  which  shall  be  chosen  the  offi- 
cers of  the  Trust ;  a  name  shall  be  given  to  this  Seminary 
and  its  principal  Instructor ;  and  such  other  business  relating 
to  this  Institution  transacted,  as  the  Trustees  shall  think 
proper. 

"  There  shall  be  chosen  annually  a  President,  Clerk,  and 
Treasurer,  as  officers  of  the  Trust,  out  of  their  own  number, 
who  shall  continue  in  their  respective  offices  till  their  places 
are  supplied  by  a  new  election ;  and,  upon  the  decease  of 
either  of  them,  another  shall  be  chosen  in  his  room  at  the 
next  meeting.  The  Master  shall  not  be  chosen  President, 
and  no  member  shall  sustain  the  office  of  Clerk  and  Treasurer 
at  the  same  time. 

"  The  President  shall,  in  all  cases,  give  his  voice  and  vote 
in  common  with  any  other  member ;  and,  whenever  there 
shall  be  an  equal  division  of  the  members  on  any  question,  it 
shall  determine  on  that  side,  whereon  the  President  shall 
have  given  his  vote ;  and  in  his  absence,  at  any  meeting  of 
the  Trustees,  another  shall  be  appointed,  who  shall  be  vested 
with  the  same  power,  during  such  absence ;  —  he  shall  call 
special  meetings  upon  the  application  of  any  three  of  the 
Trustees,  or  upon  the  concurrence  of  any  two  of  the  Trus- 


202  MEMOIR    OF 

tees  in  sentiment  with  him  on  the. occasion  of  such  meeting. 
And  upon  the  decease  of  the  President,  a  special  meeting 
may  be  called  by  any  three  of  the  Trustees.  All  notifica- 
tions for  special  meetings  shall  express  the  business  to  be 
transacted,  if  convenient ;  and  be  given  at  least  one  month 
previous  to  such  meeting,  if  not  incompatible  with  the  wel- 
fare of  the  Seminary ;  and,  when  a  special  meeting  shall  be 
called  for  the  appointment  of  an  Instructor,  or  to  transact 
other  business  of  material  consequence,  information  shall  be 
given  by  leaving  a  written  notification  at  the  house  of  each 
Trustee,  or  in  such  other  way,  as  that  the  President,  or  mem- 
bers notifying,  shall  have  good  reason  to  believe  that  each 
member  has  received  the  notice. 

"  The  Clerk  shall  record  all  votes  of  the  Trustees,  insert- 
ing the  names  of  those  present  at  every  meeting.  He  shall 
keep  a  fair  record  of  every  donation,  with  the  name  of  each 
benefactor;  the  purpose,  to  which  it  is  appropriated,  if  ex- 
pressed ;  and  of  all  expenditures ;  and  a  true  copy  of  the 
whole  shall  be  taken,  and  kept  in  the  Seminary,  to  be  open 
for  the  perusal  of  all  men ;  and,  if  he  shall  be  absent  at  any 
meeting  of  the  Trustees,  another  shall  be  appointed,  to  serve 
in  his  room,  during  such  absence. 

"  The  Treasurer  shall,  previous  to  his  receiving  the  interest 
of  the  Seminary  into  his  hands,  give  bond  for  the  faithful 
discharge  of  his  office,  in  such  sum  as  the  Trustees  shall 
direct,  with  sufficient  sureties,  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Sem- 
inary for  the  time  being  by  name ;  said  bond  to  express  the 
use  both  in  the  obligatory  part  and  in  the  condition.  He 
shall  give  duplicate  receipts  for  all  monies  received,  counter- 
signed by  one  of  the  Trustees ;  one  to  the  donor,  the  other 
to  be  lodged  with  such  member  as  the  Trustees  shall  from 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  203 

time  to  time  direct ;  and  the  Trustees  shall  take  such  other 
measures  as  they  shall  judge  requisite,  to  make  the  Treasurer 
accountable,  and  effectually  to  secure  the  interest  of  the 
Seminary. 

"  The  Trustees  shall  let  or  rent  out  the  lands  in  such  a 
manner,  as  they  shall  find  on  the  whole  most  profitable. 
They  may  make  sale  of  any  kind  of  estate,  make  purchases, 
or  improve  the  property  of  the  Seminary  in  any  way,  which 
they  judge  will  best  serve  its  interest. 

"  Upon  the  death,  resignation,  or  removal  of  the  Master, 
appointed  by  the  said  Samuel  Phillips  and  John  Phillips,  the 
Trustees  shall  appoint  another  in  his  stead ;  and  ever  after 
from  time  to  time,  as  there  shall  happen  any  vacancy  in  this 
office,  they  shall  supply  it. 

"Whereas  the  success  of  this  Institution  much  depends, 
under  Providence,  on  a  discreet  appointment  of  the  principal 
Instructor,  and  the  human  mind  is  liable  to  imperceptible 
bias  ;  it  is  therefore  required,  that  when  any  candidate  for 
election,  as  a  principal  Instructor,  is  so  near  akin  to  any 
member  of  the  Trust,  as  a  nephew  or  cousin,  in  determining 
that  election,  any  member,  to  whom  the  candidate  is  so  re- 
lated, shall  not  sit. 

"  The  Trustees  are  empowered  to  appoint  such  assistant 
or  assistants  in  and  for  the  service  of  the  Seminary,  as  they 
shall  judge  will  best  promote  its  usefulness,  and  as  may  be 
duly  encouraged. 

"  No  person  shall  be  chosen,  as  a  principal  Instructor,  un- 
less a  professor  of  the  Christian  Religion,  of  exemplary 
manners,  of  good  natural  abilities  and  literary  acquirements, 
of  a  good  acquaintance  with  human  nature,  of  a  natural 
aptitude  for  instruction  and  government ;  and,  in  the  appoint- 


204:  MEMOIR    OF 

ment  of  any  Instructor,  regard  shall  be  had  to  qualifications 
only,  without  preference  of  kindred  or  friend,  place  of  birth, 
education,  or  residence. 

"  The  Trustees  shall  make  a  contract  with  each  Master 
and  Assistant,  before  their  entrance  upon  office,  as  to  salary ; 
of  which  there  shall  be  no  alteration  but  in  their  favor; 
which  the  said  Trustees  are  empowered  to  make,  as  to  them 
shall  appear  reasonable,  and  as  the  income  of  the  Seminary 
will  admit. 

"  It  shall  be  their  duty,  to  inquire  into  the  conduct  of  the 
Master  and  Assistant,  or  Assistants ;  and,  if  they  or  either  of 
them  be  found  justly  chargeable  with  such  misconduct,  neg- 
lect of  duty,  or  incapacity,  as  the  said  Trustees  shall  judge 
renders  them,  or  either  of  them,  unfit  to  continue  in  office, 
they  shall  remove  the  Master  or  any  Assistant,  so  chargeable. 

"  The  Trustees  shall  determine  the  qualifications,  requisite 
to  entitle  youth  to  an  admission  into  this  Seminary. 

"  As  the  welfare  of  the  Seminary  will  be  greatly  promoted 
by  its  members  being  conversant  with  persons  of  good  char- 
acter only ;  no  scholar  may  enjoy  the  privileges  of  this  Insti- 
tution, who  shall  board  in  any  family,  which  is  not  licensed 
by  the  Trustees. 

"  And,  in  order  to  preserve  this  Seminary  from  the  baneful 
influence  of  the  incorrigibly  vicious,  the  Trustees  shall  deter- 
mine, for  what  reasons  a  scholar  shall  be  expelled,  and  the 
manner  in  which  the  sentence  shall  be  administered. 

"  The  Trustees,  at  their  annual  meeting,  shall  visit  the 
Seminary,  and  examine  into  the  proficiency  of  the  scholars ; 
examine  and  adjust  all  accounts  relative  to  the  Seminary ; 
and  make  any  farther  rules  and  orders  which  they  find  neces- 
sary, and  not  inconsistent  with  any  rule  that  is  or  may  be 
established  by  the  Founders. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  205 

"  They  shall,  as  the  funds  will  permit,  without  affecting 
;he  support  of  the  Master  or  any  assistant,  have  power  to 
erect  such  buildings  as  they  may  think  necessary ;  and,  at  a 
convenient  season,  when  of  sufficient  ability,  shall  erect  a 
large,  decent  building,  sufficient  to  accommodate  at  least 
fifty  scholars  with  boarding,  beside  the  master  and  his 
family ;  unless  it  shall  be  the  determination  of  a  major  part 
of  the  Trustees,  that  the  true  design  of  this  Institution  may 
be  better  promoted  by  the  scholars  boarding  in  private  fami- 
lies, and  by  some  other  improvement  of  the  interest  of  the 
Seminary.  They  shall,  from  time  to  time,  order  such  repairs 
as  they  shall  judge  necessary. 

"  Upon  the  death,  resignation,  or  incapacity  for  the  service, 
by  reason  of  age  or  otherwise,  of  any  of  the  Trustees,  the  re- 
maining Trustees  shall  supply  the  vacancy  by  a  new  election. 

"  In  settling  the  salary  and  perquisites  of  the  Master,  and  in 
the  consideration  of  every  other  question,  in  which  the  Master 
is  particularly  interested,  he  shall  not  sit.  And,  if  any  ques- 
tion shall  come  before  the  Trustees,  wherein  the  town  or 
parish,  where  the  Seminary  is  situate,  may  be  a  party  or  par- 
ticularly interested,  and  any  minister  belonging  to  such  town 
is  a  Trustee ;  in  the  consideration  of  such  question  he  shall 
not  sit. 

"  At  the  meetings  of  the  Trustees,  there  shall  be  made 
decent,  not  extravagant,  entertainment.  Economy  is  to  be 
ever  viewed  by  the  Trustees  and  Instructors  in  their  respec- 
tive capacities,  as  an  object  worthy  their  particular  recom- 
mendation. 

"  The  Master,  when  appointed,  shall  receive  applications 
for  the  admission  of  scholars,  and  determine  them  agreeably 
to  the  rules  respecting  the  same. 
18 


206  MEMOIR    OF 

"  He  shall  conform  himself  to  the  Regulations  established 
by  the  Founders  and  Trustees,  and  have  power,  from  time  to 
time,  to  make  such  other  consistent  Rules  and  Orders,  as  he 
shall  find  necessary  for  the  internal  management  and  regu- 
lation of  the  Seminary  ;  which  Rules  and  Orders  shall  be 
subject  to  the  examination,  amendment,  or  discontinuance 
of  the  Trustees,  at  their  discretion. 

"  It  shall  be  ever  considered  as  the  first  and  principal  duty 
of  the  Master,  to  regulate  the  tempers,  to  enlarge  the  minds, 
and  form  the  morals  of  the  youth  committed  to  his  care. 

"  There  shall  be  taught  in  this  Seminary  the  English, 
Latin,  and  Greek  Languages,  Writing,  Arithmetic,  Music,  and 
the  Art  of  Speaking ;  also  practical  Geometry,  Logic,  and 
any  other  of  the  liberal  arts  and  sciences,  or  languages,  as 
opportunity  and  ability  may  hereafter  admit,  and  as  the 
Trustees  shall  direct. 

"  The  Master  is  to  give  special  attention  to  the  health  of 
the  scholars,  and  ever  to  urge  the  importance  of  a  habit  of 
industry.  For  these  purposes  it  is  to  be  a  part  of  his  duty, 
to  encourage  the  scholars  to  perform  some  manual  labor,  such 
as  gardening,  or  the  like ;  so  far  as  it  is  consistent  with  clean- 
liness and  the  inclination  of  their  parents  ;  and  the  fruit  of 
their  labor  shall  be  applied,  at  the  discretion  of  the  Trustees, 
for  procuring  a  Library,  or  in  some  other  way  increasing  the 
usefulness  of  this  Seminary. 

"  But,  above  all,  it  is  expected,  that  the  Master's  attention 
to  the  disposition  of  the  minds  and  morals  of  the  youth,  un- 
der his  charge,  will  exceed  every  other  care  ;  well  considering 
that,  though  goodness  without  knowledge  (as  it  respects 
others)  is  weak  and  feeble;  yet  knowledge  without  good- 
ness is  dangerous  ;  and  that  both  united,  form  the  noblest 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  207 

character,  and  lay  the  surest  foundation  of  usefulness  to 
mankind. 

"  It  is  therefore  required,  that  he  most  attentively  and  vig- 
orously guard  against  the  earliest  irregularities ;  that  he  fre- 
quently delineate,  in  their  natural  colors,  the  deformity  and 
odiousness  of  vice,  and  the  beauty  and  amiableness  of  virtue  ; 
that  he  spare  no  pains,  to  convince  them  of  their  numberless 
and  indispensable  obligations  to  abhor  and  avoid  the  former, 
and  to  love  and  practise  the  latter ;  of  the  several  great 
duties  they  owe  to  God,  their  country,  their  parents,  their 
neighbor,  and  themselves ;  that  he  critically  and  constantly 
observe  the  variety  of  their  natural  tempers,  and  solicitously 
endeavor  to  bring  them  under  such  discipline,  as  may  tend 
most  effectually  to  promote  their  own  satisfaction  and  the 
happiness  of  others ;  that  he  early  inure  them  to  contem- 
plate the  several  connections  and  various  scenes,  incident  to 
human  life ;  furnishing  such  general  maxims  of  conduct,  as 
may  best  enable  them  to  pass  through  all  with  ease,  reputa- 
tion, and  comfort. 

"  And  whereas  many  of  the  Students  in  this  Seminary  may 
be  devoted  to  the  sacred  work  of  the  gospel  ministry ;  that 
the  true  and  fundamental  principles  of  the  Christian  Religion 
may  be  cultivated,  established,  and  perpetuated  in  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  so  far  as  this  Institution  may  have  influence ;  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Master,  as  the  age  and  capacities  of 
the  Scholars  will  admit,  not  only  to  instruct  and  establish 
them  in  the  truth  of  Christianity;  but  also  early  and  dili- 
gently to  inculcate  upon  them  the  great  and  important  Scrip- 
ture doctrines  of  the  existence  of  One  true  God,  the  Father^ 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost ;  of  the  fall  of  man,  the  depravity  of 
human  nature;  the  necessity  of  an  atonement,  and  of  our 


208  MEMOIR    OF 

being  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  our  minds ;  the  doctrines  of 
repentance  toward  God  and  of  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ ;  of  sanctification  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  of  justifi- 
cation by  the  free  grace  of  God,  through  the  redemption, 
that  is  in  Jesus  Christ,  (in  opposition  to  the  erroneous  and 
dangerous  doctrine  of  justification  by  our  own  merit,  or  a 
dependence  on  self-righteousness,)  together  with  the  other 
important  doctrines  and  duties  of  our  Holy  Christian  Re- 
ligion. 

"  And,  whereas  the  most  wholesome  precepts,  without  fre- 
quent repetition,  may  prove  ineffectual ;  it  is  further  required 
of  the  Master,  that  he  not  only  urge  and  re-urge ;  but  continue 
from  day  to  day,  to  impress  these  instructions. 

"  And  let  him  ever  remember  that  the  design  of  this  Insti- 
tution can  never  be  answered,  without  his  persevering,  inces- 
sant attention  to  this  duty. 

li  Protestants  only  shall  ever  be  concerned  in  the  Trust  or 
Instruction  of  this  Seminary. 

"  The  election  of  all  Officers  shall  be  by  ballot  only. 

"  This  Seminary  shall  be  ever  equally  open  to  Youth,  of 
requisite  qualifications,  from  every  quarter;  provided,  that 
none  be  admitted,  till  in  common  parlance  they  can  read 
English  well,  excepting  such  particular  numbers,  as  the  Trus- 
tees may  hereafter  license. 

"  And  in  order  to  prevent  the  smallest  perversion  of  the 
true  intent  of  this  Foundation,  it  is  again  declared,  that  the 
first  and  principal  object  of  this  Institution  is  the  promotion 
of  true  Piety  and  Virtue ;  the  second,  instruction  in  the  Eng- 
lish, Latin,  and  Greek  Languages,  together  with  Writing, 
Arithmetic,  Music,  and  the  Art  of  Speaking ;  the  third,  practi- 
cal Geometry,  Logic,  and  Geography ;  and  the  fourth,  such 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  209 

other  of  the  liberal  Arts  and  Sciences  or  Languages,  as  oppor- 
tunity and  ability  may  hereafter  admit,  and  as  the  Trustees 
shall  direct.  And  these  Regulations  shall  be  read  by  the 
President,  at  the  annual  meetings  of  the  Trustees. 

"  Whereas,  in  the  course  of  human  events,  the  period  may 
arrive,  when  the  prosperity  of  this  Institution  may  be  pro- 
moted by  removing  it  from  the  place  where  it  is  founded ;  if 
it  shall  hereafter  be  judged,  upon  mature  and  impartial  con- 
sideration of  all  circumstances,  by  two  thirds  of  the  Trustees, 
that  for  good  and  substantial  reasons,  which  at  this  time  do 
not  exist,  the  true  design,  herein  expressed,  will  be  better 
served,  by  removing  the  Seminary  to  some  other  place  ;  it 
shall  be  in  their  power  to  remove  it  accordingly ;  provided, 
that  if  this  event  shall  ever  take  place,  there  shall  be  fairly 
and  truly  entered  on  the  Clerk's  records  all  the  reasons, 
whereon  the  determination  was  grounded ;  and  the  same 
shall  be  subscribed  by  the  members,  who  effected  the  deter- 
mination ;  but  unless  the  good  of  mankind  shall  manifestly 
require  it,  this  Seminary  shall  never  be  removed  from  the 
South  Parish  in  the  town  of  Andover. 

"  And  we  hereby  reserve  to  ourselves,  during  any  part  of 
our  natural  lives,  the  full  right,  jointly  to  make  any  special 
Rules  for  the  perpetual  Government  of  this  Institution;  which 
shall  be  equally  binding  on  those,  whom  they  may  concern, 
with  any  clause  in  these  Regulations ;  provided,  no  such 
Rule  shall  be  subversive  of  the  true  design  herein  expressed. 
We  also  reserve  to  ourselves  a  right,  jointly  to  appoint  one 
person,  to  succeed  in  the  Trust  after  our  decease  or  resigna- 
tion ;  to  whom  shall  be  transferred  the  same  right  of  appoint- 
ment, and  to  his  Successors  in  the  said  Trust  for  ever. 

"  In  witness  whereof  we,  the  Subscribers,  have  hereunto  set 
18* 


210  MEMOIE    OF 

our  hands  and  seals  this  twenty-first  day  of  April,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-eight. 

»  Signed,  •Mbd.ud  delivered  SAMUEL    PHILLIPS    (S.) 

"JOHN  ABBOT, 

"  HANNAH  HOLT.  JOHN  PHILLIPS      (S.) " 

It  is  now  nearly  eighty  years  since  this  constitution 
was  written,  yet  scarce  a  word  in  it  is  obsolete ;  and 
there  is  not  a  paragraph  nor  a  phrase  which  it  would 
be  desirable  to  alter.  The  purity,  the  ease,  the  perspi- 
cuity and  precision  of  the  style,  and  the  sagacious  drift 
and  scope  of  the  plan  here  embodied,  have  been  the 
admiration  of  all  who  have  ever  been  concerned  in  the 
oversight  or  administration  of  the  Academy.1  The 
Institution  has  continued  to  be,  in  all  its  distinctive 
features,  precisely  what  its  revered  projector  intended 
it  to  be,  with  no  change  but  expansion,  and  this  such 
as  he  anticipated  might  ensue.  To  appreciate  the 
honor  due  to  him  here,  it  should  be  noticed  that,  in 
this  case,  as  in  the  form  of  civil  government  which 
he  was  helping  to  construct,  there  was  nothing  to  copy, 
but  every  thing  to  originate.  No  such  school  was  then 
known ;  no  such  constitution  had  ever  been  seen.  He 
was  planning  a  model  classical  school,  for  boys  only, 

1  One  who  was  for  forty  years  a  trustee  of  the  Institution  has 
often  been  heard  to  remark,  that  as  the  constitution  was  read  year 
after  year  at  the  meetings  of  the  Board,  its  language  seemed  to  him 
more  like  inspiration  than  any  thing  else,  except  the  Bible  ! 


211 

JUDGE    PHILLIPS. 


facilities  for  .  «*  '"SO  »f 


tat  meeting  of  the  tru.Ke,,  «  pre»cnbed  by 

«  heW  on  T»e*y,  April  38,  at  wh.ch 
of  the  B.«d  Wok  P,ace,  .nd  the 


212  MEMOIR    OF 

school,  and  had  been  freely  consulted  in  the  whole 
process  of  drafting  the  constitution,  was  elected  Pre- 
ceptor ;  and  it  was  decided  that  there  should  be  two 
vacations  a  year,  one  in  April,  the  other  in  October, 
of  three  weeks  each. 

At  this  very  meeting,  the  war  was  also  before  their 
minds ;  for  a  vote  was  passed  to  apply  to  the  General 
Court  for  an  appropriation  of  books  to  the  school, 
from  the  libraries  "  of  the  absentees ; "  referring  to  per- 
sons who  had  withdrawn  from  the  country  and  joined 
the  British  in  the  contest.  There  was  another  formal- 
ity, also,  connected  with  the  organization.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  French  preached  a  sermon  upon  the  occasion,  the 
manuscript  of  which  is  still  preserved  by  his  son.  On 
the  morning  of  Thursday^  April  30,  the  school  was 
opened  in  due  form,  with  an  attendance  of  thirteen 
pupils,  and  in  less  than  a  month  the  full  complement  of 
thirty  was  made  up. 

In  all  this  organic  period,  Judge  Phillips  was  the  mas- 
ter-spirit of  the  enterprise,  as  he  had  been  in  the  vari- 
ous preliminary  steps.  The  meetings  of  the  Board 
were  at  his  house  ;  he  suggested  their  course  of  action, 
and  was  made  chairman  of  most  of  their  committees. 
He  began  at  once  to  keep  their  records,  although 
another  was  nominally  clerk ;  and  with  these,  a  com- 
plete catalogue  of  all  the  pupils  admitted,  with  their 
place  of  residence,  age,  etc.  etc. :  he  acted  in  like  man- 
ner as  treasurer,  taking  upon  himself  the  labor,  while 
another  person  held  the  seal  of  the  office. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  213 

We  have  before  alluded  to  the  historic  interest  with 
which  the  old  house,  in  which  he  now  resided,  became 
in  this  way  invested.  It  has  the  honor  not  only  of 
having  been  his  residence  for  a  period,  but  of  being 
the  birthplace  of  the  Academy.  While  he  lived  in  it, 
the  meetings  of  the  trustees  continued  to  be  held  here, 
as  the  first  had  been,  in  the  west  room ;  now  used  as 
a  dining-room  by  the  Academic  Club.  When  he  re- 
moved from  it,  it  became  the  residence  of  the  succes- 
sive preceptors  of  the  school,  Mr.  Pearson,  Mr.  Pember- 
ton,  and  Mr.  Newman.  When  the  Theological  Sem- 
inary was  founded,  this  house  was  occupied  by  Dr. 
Woods ;  and  here,  in  the  same  room,  his  first  course  of 
Lectures  in  Divinity  was  delivered. 

The  only  other  buildings  at  this  time,  on  all  the  ter- 
ritory now  known  as  "Andover  Hill,"  were  the  new 
academy  on  the  corner  of  the  same  street,  and  two  old 
dwelling-houses,  belonging  to  the  estates  of  Stephen 
Abbott  and  Samuel  Abbott,  deceased;  one  near  the 
site  of  the  Abbott  Professor's  house,1  and  the  other  a 
few  rods  south  of  the  printing  house.  We  give,  in 
this  connection,  the  best  representation  which  we  have 
been  able  to  sketch  of  "the  Hill,"  as  it  then  ap- 
peared. 

The  very  first  term  of  the  school  not  only  con- 
firmed, but  enlarged  the  viewrs  of  its  indefatigable  pro- 

1  Lately  occupied  by  Dr.  Woods. 


214  MEMOIR    OF 

jector  respecting  it.  Such  numbers  pressed  for  ad- 
mission to  its  privileges,  that  the  opening  arrangements 
were  soon  materially  modified ;  and  at  the  close  of  the 
term  a  charge  was,  by  vote  of  the  trustees,  at  his  sug- 
gestion, made  upon  each  scholar,  to  pay  the  salary  of 
an  assistant,  and  other  necessary  expenses  incident  to 
an  enlargement  of  the  plan:1  a  practice  which  was 
continued,  with  various  modifications,  through  his  life- 
time; and  is  still,  as  then,  found  necessary,  for  the 
want  of  more  ample  endowments. 

With  the  rapid  expansion  of  the  school,  another 
question  began  now  to  occupy  his  thoughts,  —  the 
question  of  obtaining  for  it  an  act  of  incorporation; 
and  in  October  of  this  year  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  apply,  at  such  time  as  they  should  judge  best,  to 
the  General  Court  for  such  an  act.  In  connection  with 
this  application,  it  was  also  voted  to  change  the  name 
of  the  Institution  from  Phillips  School  to  Phillips  Acad- 
emy ;  under  which  title  it  was  incorporated  on  the  4th 
of  October,  1780. 

There  are  some  circumstances  connected  with  this 
Act  which  deserve  to  be  mentioned.  By  it,  Phillips 
Academy  had  the  distinction  of  being  the  first  incor- 
porated academy  in  the  Commonwealth.  The  Act  had 
to  be  drafted  without  any  aids  from  precedent.  On 
examining  the  original  paper  as  engrossed,  now  in  the 

1  Academy  Records,  p.  30,  etc. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  215 

archives  of  the  State,  we  find  that  the  preamble  is  in 
the  handwriting  of  Judge  Phillips,  and  a  portion  of 
the  first  enacting  clause ;  the  remainder  of  the  docu- 
ment appears  to  have  been  copied  by  a  different  hand ; 
but  that  the  composition  of  the  whole  was  his  work 
there  can  be  no  question.1  In  a  letter  to  his  uncle  at 
Exeter,  dated  Andover,  September  6,  1780,  speaking 
of  various  hindrances  to  his  being  at  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege, of  which  he  had  been  chosen  a  trustee,  at  the 
ensuing  commencement,  as  Dr.  Phillips  desired,  he 
says :  — 

"  I  am  under  a  still  further  difficulty  on  account  of  an  act 
of  incorporation  for  Phillips  School,  which  I  am  solicitous  to 
get  through  this  session,  by  reason  of  Mr.  Lowell's  being  a 
member  of  the  General  Assembly,  as  well  as  for  other 
reasons ;  —  this  school  is  in  a  flourishing  state,  in  the  estima- 
tion of  those  who  have  children  here ;  and  I  trust  you  will 
give  yourself  opportunity,  this  fall,  to  acquaint  yourself  in 
person  with  the  situation  of  it." 

The  Act,  thus  originated,  was  the  last  legislative  act 
of  the  General  Court,  under  the  old  regime,  the  new 
State  Government,  under  the  Constitution  which  Judge 
Phillips  had  assisted  to  frame,  being  organized  early  in 
the  November  following,  thus  reminding  us  again  of 
the  Kevolutionary  scenes  in  the  midst  of  which  the 
Institution  was  evolved :  and,  as  if  to  make  the  recol- 
lection still  more  vivid,  the  act  next  preceding  this 

1  See  Appendix,  H. 


216  MEMOIR    OF 

related  to  a  powder-house  in  Boston,  and  the  newspa* 
pers  of  the  very  next  day  contained  the  startling  intel- 
ligence of  Arnold's  treason !  Nor  can  we  omit  to 
notice  here,  in  passing,  the  fact  that  the  ever  memora- 
able  hard  winter  had  ushered  in  this  year ;  when  for 
forty  days  from  the  first  of  January  the  cold  was  most 
intense ;  and  the  no  less  memorable  dark  day  had  oc- 
curred in  the  spring,  on  the  19th  of  May.1  At  the 

1  Rev.  Mr.  French,  one  of  the  trustees,  gives  the  following  ac- 
count of  this  phenomenon:  "The  morning  was  ushered  in  with  a 
very  dark  cloud  hanging  over  the  west  and  north-west,  attended 
with  thunder.  It  settled  into  the  north.  The  wind  at  south-west, 
brought  over  a  number  of  clouds  from  that  quarter.  The  darkness 
began  about  nine,  and  at  twelve  o'clock  it  was  as  dark  as  evening. 
Candles  were  lighted ;  domestic  fowls  repaired  to  their  roosts  ;  frogs 
peeped ;  night  birds  appeared ;  cattle  repaired  to  their  barns.  Ob- 
jects could  be  discerned  at  a  small  distance  only.  The  clouds  put  on 
a  strange  kind  of  brassy,  copper  color,  and  every  thing  conspired  to 
make  the  appearance  exceedingly  gloomy. 

"  It  abated  after  twelve,  and  after  three  in  the  afternoon  the  ap- 
pearance was  no  other  than  a  dark,  cloudy  day.  Though  the  moon 
fulled  the  day  before,  and  was  at  a  considerable  height,  in  the  even- 
ing the  darkness  returned,  and  soon  became  total,  as  if  there  had 
been  no  such  thing  as  vision,  and  continued  till  about  midnight. 

"  The  darkness  of  the  day  and  evening  lasted  about  fourteen  hours. 
Concern  and  terror  seemed  to  sit  on  the  countenances  of  the  people. 

"  The  darkness  extended  over  all  the  New  England  States ;  west- 
ward, it  reached  to  Albany ;  at  the  southward,  it  was  observed  all 
along  the  sea-coast ;  and  to  the  north,  as  far  as  the  settlements  extend, 
though  not  in  all  places  equally  dark."  —  Abbott's  History  of  Andover, 
n.  189,  190. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  217 

date  of-  its  incorporation,  the  academy  had  received  in 
all  ninety  seven  scholars,  and  the  number  then  in  at- 
tendance was  about  sixty. 

An  exceedingly  interesting  and  important  aspect  of 
this  academy  enterprise  now  began  to  present  itself. 
In  the  constitution  the  projector  of  the  school  repre- 
sents it  as  one  of  the  earnest  wishes  of  the  founders, 
"  that  its  usefulness  may  be  so  manifest,  as  to  lead  the  way  to 
other  establishments  on  the  same  principles"  In  this  respect, 
as  well  as  in  others,  its  history  outran  his  prophecy. 
It  had  been  only  two  or  three  years  in  operation,  and 
was  but  just  formally  incorporated,  when  his  uncle  at 
Exeter  began  to  confer  with  him  upon  the  subject  of 
founding  another  academy  like  it,  at  that  place. 

It  has  been  said  that  Judge  Phillips  was  the  prime 
mover  in  this  project  also ;  but  we  are  inclined  rather, 
on  the  ground  of  various  evidences  in  the  case,  to 
ascribe  the  honor  to  his  uncle.  That  Judge  Phillips 
took  the  most  eager  interest  in  it,  and  rejoiced  over  it, 
and  cooperated  with  Dr.  Phillips  in  it  at  every  step, 
we  have  abundant  proof;  but  in  the  communications 
which  passed  between  them,  Dr.  Phillips  seems  nat- 
urally to  speak  of  the  enterprise  as  moving  forward 
under  his  hand,  very  much  as  Phillips  Academy  had 
done  under  the  eye  of  Judge  Phillips ;  while  the  lat- 
ter, as  naturally,  writes  of  the  satisfaction  which  he 
derives  from  his  uncle's  plans  and  efforts,  as  they  are 
19 


218  MEMOIR    OF 

from  time  to  time  made  known  to  him.  The  truth 
was,  Judge  Phillips  had,  in  the  process  of  originating 
Phillips  Academy,  so  infused  his  spirit  into  his  uncle, 
that  he  needed  no  other  stimulus  to  such  a  work.  He 
saw  that  his  nephew  would  have  no  need  of  his  for- 
tune, except  to  consecrate  it  to  some  such  public  use. 
He  had  no  children  on  whom  to  bestow  it.  He  could 
alone  most  amply  endow  a  school,  which  would  be  a 
lasting  monument  of  his  zeal  for  Christian  learning, 
and  in  the  few  years  since  his  attention  had  been  first 
called  to  this  great  subject  by  his  nephew  he  appears 
to  have  already  matured  his  noble  project.  The  iirst 
allusion  to  this  topic,  which  we  find  in  their  letters,  ap- 
pears in  the  following :  — 

"  ANDOVER,  February  26,  1781. 

"  HONORED  SIR,  —  As  I  have  so  good  a  conveyance,  I  can't 
consent  to  its  passing  unimproved,  though  the  bearer  can 
tarry  but  little  longer  than  while  I  acknowledge  the  receipt 
of  your  very  valuable  favor  of  the  24th  ultimo ;  for  which  I 
beg  your  acceptance  of  my  warmest  acknowledgments :  —  the 
contents  are  important,  and  if  I  was  capable  of  returning  an 
answer  which  would  be  worth  your  perusal,  it  is  out  of  my 
power  to  do  so  now.  .  .  .  Mrs.  Phillips  and  the  little  boy 
join  in  a  tender  of  duty  to  our  uncle  and  aunt,  with 
"  Your  for  ever  obliged  and  most  dutiful  nephew, 

"  S.  PHILLIPS,  JR." 

Two  months  later,  in  a  letter  from  Boston,  April  23, 
1781,  he  writes,  in  connection  with  other  business :  — 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  219 

"  HONORED  SIR,  —  ...  Since  receiving  your  last  favor,  I 
have  been  chiefly  from  home,  and  when  at  home  have  been  so 
unfortunate  as  not  to  obtain  Messrs.  French's  and  Pearson's 
opinion  of  the  dimensions  of  a  building  that  would  be  most 
convenient  for  an  Academy :  —  this  I  hope  for  speedily,  and 
shall  with  great  pleasure  transmit  it.  The  joy  I  felt,  on  find- 
ing that  you  had  it  in  contemplation  to  lay  the  foundation 
of  another  Academy,  was  great  indeed :  so  great,  that  I 
hardly  know  of  any  thing  within  human  reach  that  could 
have  given  me  more  satisfaction,  save  the  intelligence  that 
your  purpose  was  executed.  May  my  honored  uncle  long 
enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  pious  cares  and  projections,  in  seeing 
those  who  are  furnished  with  the  best  principles  filling  the 
most  important  places  in  Church  and  State,  and  doing 
worthily  for  the  kingdom  of  our  glorious  Saviour.  The 
impatience  of  the  bearer  forbids  my  adding  more  than  my 
dutiful  addresses  to  my  honored  aunt,  and  that  I  am, 

"  With  the  warmest  sentiments  of  gratitude  and  respect, 
"  Your  very  dutiful  nephew.  S.  PHILLIPS,  JR." 

To  this  his  uncle  replied :  — 

"  EXETER,  April  27,  1781. 

u  DEAR  SIR  :  —  ...  Your  concurring  sentiments  and  warm 
expressions  respecting  another  Academy,  are  very  refreshing 
and  highly  animating;  and  will  greatly  endear  you  to  my 
friends  here,  who  were  encouraged  to  expect  the  help  of 
your  advice,  and  such  assistance  as  might,  in  a  course  of 
time,  when  you  shall  have  more  leisure  especially,  greatly 
increase  the  benefit  of  such  an  institution.  The  motion  was 
exceedingly  agreeable  to  the  General  Court,  who  have  incor- 


220  MEMOIR     OF 

porated  the  Academy,  by  the  name  of  the  Phillips  Exe- 
ter Academy,  for  the  purposes  mentioned  in  yours;  and 
the  trustees  nominated  and  appointed  (besides  myself)  are, 
Daniel  Tilton  and  Thomas  Odiorne,  Esquires,  of  this  town, 
John  Pickering,  Esq.,  of  Portsmouth,  David  Maclure,  of 
Northampton,  Clerk,  the  Hon.  S.  Phillips,  Jr.  Esq.,  Ando- 
ver,  and  the  Preceptor,  Mr.  Benjamin  Thurston — the  estate 
allowed  the  same  with  yours  —  and  might  have  been 
twice  so  much  (I  doubt  not)  had  it  been  asked  ;  and 
the  Act  concludes  thus :  l  And  whereas  the  said  Institution 
may  be  of  very  great  and  general  advantage  to  this  State, 
and  deserves  every  encouragement ;  be  it  therefore  enacted, 
by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  all  the  lands,  tenements,  and 
personal  estate,  that  shall  be  given  to  the  said  Trustees  for 
the  use  of  said  Academy,  shall  be  and  hereby  are  forever  ex- 
empted from  all  taxes  whatsoever ; '  which  very  encouraging 
clause  concludes  me,  Most  affectionately  yours, 

"J.  PHILLIPS. 
"  Hon.  S.  PHILLIPS,  JR.,  Esq." 

The  "  purpose  "  of  Dr.  Phillips,  it  appears,  "  was  exe- 
cuted." The  Act  of  Incorporation  bears  date  the  third 
of  April,  1781 ;  the  school,  which  was  so  carefully  in 
all  respects  taking  its  predecessor  at  Andover  for  a 
model,  being  endowed  by  his  munificence  as  its  sole 
FOUNDER.  Fifty  thousand  dollars  were  given  by  him  at 
the  outset  for  this  purpose. 

The  opening  of  the  school,  however,  was  deferred 
until  a  suitable  building  could  be  erected  and  a  pre- 
ceptor found:  and  was  still  further  delayed  by  some 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  221 

opposition  to  his  wishes  in  regard  to  its  location ;  con- 
cerning which  he  writes  freely  as  follows  to  Judge 
Phillips  :  - 

"  EXETER,  September  13,  1781. 

"  DEAR  KINSMAN,  —  The  Trustees  in  town  met  soon  after 
you  left  us,  and  could  agree  no  better  than  before.  I  rec- 
ollected a  word  you  dropped,  —  that  if  people  in  town 
insisted  on  building  upon  the  spot  first  proposed,  and  would 
convert  the  building  to  some  other  purpose  if  it  was  found 
by  experience  not  to  answer  this,  it  might  put  an  end 
to  the  present  difficulty ;  I  ventured  to  propose  the  question 
as  a  thought  of  my  own ;  the  two  gentlemen  were  so  confi- 
dent that  it  would  answer  the  purpose,  that  they  manifested 
a  willingness  to  take  that  risk  upon  themselves  :  it  must  lie 
there,  for  all  the  other  Trustees  are  differently  minded.  Mr. 
Pickering,  indeed,  says  he  did  not  give  his  opinion,  when  in 
town  before,  officially ;  and  upon  reading  the  Act,  said  it  was 
not  the  Trustees'  business  to  determine  the  matter  —  sup- 
pose he  meant  without  a  trial  —  I  sent  for  Mr.  Maclure.  He 
was  fully  of  your  opinion,  —  spake  his  mind  with  great  free- 
dom and  solemnity.  Mr.  Thurston  and  I  have  often  repeated 
our  own  sentiments,  and  have  continued  our  endeavors  to 
obtain  another  spot  more  suitable.  The  gentleman  who  owns 
the  land,  where  you  were  pleased  to  say  it  might  give  the 
pleasure  of  inspecting  to  some  advantage,  has  been  waited 
on,  and  consented  to  sell  half  an  acre,  with  the  addition  of  a 
convenient  way  to  the  finest  spring  in  town,  within  about 
eight  or  ten  rods  of  it ;  but  the  two  gentlemen  with  a  num- 
ber of  others  to  the  west  of  the  town,  say  't  is  an  incon- 
venient place,  and  pay  little  or  no  attention  to  it.  They  have 

19* 


222  MEMOIR    OF 

treated  with  General  Folsom  for  half  an  acre  bordering  upon 
the  Common,  but  say  his  price  is  very  unreasonable.  They 
have  again  treated  with  the  man  whose  land  joins  upon  mine 
at  the  little  precipice  ;  he  will  not  spare  the  quantity  which  I 
insist  upon  as  necessary  in  that  very  confined  situation. 
They  can  have  half  an  acre  at  three  fold  the  value,  and  are 
so  attached  to  the  spot,  I  hear,  they  mean  to  purchase  it ; 
hoping  it  may  reconcile  the  Trustees  to  continue  it  there. 
They  know  it  (the  school)  must  be  opened  in  town ;  and  if 
they  will  run  the  hazard  of  its  removal,  what  shall  —  what 
can  we  say  more !  .  .  .  . 

"  I  wish  to  know  in  time,  this  fall,  when  you  suppose  you 
can  attend  a  Trustee  meeting  here ;  if  you  judge  it  necessary 
there  should  be  one.  The  frame  was  ready  to  be  erected 
last  Friday.  I  suspect  they  will  purchase  the  additional  half 
acre  to-day ;  if  they  proceed,  one  room,  at  least,  will,  they 

say,  be  in  readiness  by  the  first  day  of  November In 

tenders  of  love  to  you  and  your  other  self  and  Johnny,  your 
aunt  joins  with  your  uncle  JOHN." 

Another  letter  soon  followed. 

"  EXETER,  October  5,  1781. 

"  DEAR  KINSMAN,  —  Having  a  favorable  opportunity  by 
Mr.  Thurston,  I  write,  hoping  he  will  more  fully  communi- 
cate matters  respecting  himself  and  the  school  here 

The  building  is  erected  where  the  builders  pleased ;  and  sup- 
pose one  room  may  be  finished  this  month.  But  whether  it 
would  be  best  to  desire  a  gentleman  so  out  of  health  as  Mr. 
Thurston  really  is,  to  enter  for  so  short  a  time,  or  to  wait  till 
spring  in  order  to  procure  an  Instructor  who  might  be  em- 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  223 

ployed  and  settled  to  his  own  and  others'  advantage,  is  the 
question. 

"  Your  sentiments  herein  would  lay  a  fresh  obligation  upon 
your  loving  uncle,  JOHN  PHILLIPS." 

The  opening  of  the  school,  which  had  been  retarded 
by  these  obstacles,  finally  took  place  on  the  1st  of  May, 
1783,  and  from  this  time  its  Founder  had  the  satisfac- 
tion of  watching  its  prosperity  and  usefulness  for  many 
years,  parallel  with  the  history  of  its  earlier  compeer 
at  Andover.1  During  these  conferences  of  Judge  Phil- 
lips with  his  uncle  in  reference  to  this  Academy  in 
1781,  he  repeatedly  alludes,  in  his  letters,  to  the  sub- 
ject of  building  a  house,  at  last,  for  his  own  family 
residence ;  such  a  step  as  he  now  felt  had  become  a 
necessity.  And  here  we  shall  see  how  his  deliberation 
and  forecast,  in  planning  for  his  own  home,  resulted,  ulti- 
mately, in  important  advantages  to  his  cherished  school. 
Early  in  the  spring  of  1782,  he  purchased  of  one  of 
the  heirs  of  Samuel  Abbott,  deceased,  a  tract  adjoining 
the  lands  of  the  Trustees  on  the  south,  on  which  the 
residence  of  the  late  Professor  Stuart  was  afterwards 
built.  A  few  days  later  he  concluded  a  contract  made 
nearly  a  year  before,  with  William  Foster,  for  a  tract 
of  several  acres,  now  included  in  the  Seminary  grounds, 
upon  the  southerly  side  on  Salem  street,  and  extend- 
ing around  a  short  distance  upon  Main  street;  and  on 

1  See  Appendix  I. 


224  MEMOIR    OF 

the  same  day  he  obtained,  of  Asa  Holt,  a  small  tract 
more  remote  from  the  Academy,  near  the  southerly 
section  of  its  lands  obtained  from  the  estate  of  George 
Abbott.  By  these  purchases  nearly  the  whole  of  "  An- 
dover  Hill "  came  into  his  own  and  the  Trustees'  hands. 
Soon  after  this  he  negotiated  with  the  Trustees  for  the 
site  of  his  mansion-house,  adjoining  his  recent  pur- 
chases, on  the  south-east  corner  of  the  tract  originally 
obtained  of  Solomon  Wardwell,  exchanging  for  an  acre 
and  a  half  here  about  three  acres  on  the  corner  where 
the  new  Academy  was  soon  erected.  A  little  later  he 
purchased  for  his  father  and  uncle,  in  the  name  of  the 
Trustees,  the  "  old  training  field,"  on  the  corner  oppo- 
site.1 After  he  had  erected  his  mansion-house  here, 
as  described  in  a  preceding  chapter,  and  had  taken 
possession  of  it,  his  uncle,  in  a  long  communication  re- 
specting the  affairs  of  his  Academy,  greeted  him  in 
these  cordial  words :  — 

"  EXETER,  January  14,  1783. 

"  DEAR  KINSMAN,  —  Your  very  kind  favor  of  the  31st  of 
December  I  received,  and  heartily  congratulate  you  on  your 
removal  into  your  new  habitation,  after  the  uncomfortable 
situation  you  have  lately  been  in.  Heaven  grant  the  devout 
wishes  of  your  heart  respecting  this  residence,  —  a  heart 
which  is,  I  trust,  the  habitation  of  God,  through  the  Spirit, 
and  rejoiceth  in  Him  more  than  in  all  worldly  accornmoda- 

1  See  again  Appendix  G. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  225 

tions  and  successes,  which  justly  merit  and  happily  excite 
your  dutiful  and  grateful  acknowledgments.  .... 
"  I  am,  with  love  to  your  whole  self, 

"  Most  affectionately  yours, 

"JOHN  PHILLIPS." 

In  this  connection  we  give  also  an  extract  from  an- 
other letter  of  later  date,  as  both  give  important  inti- 
mations of  the  freedom  with  which  Judge  Phillips  sug- 
gested his  characteristic  views  to  his  uncle,  and  of  the 
great  weight  which  was  attached  to  them. 

"  EXETER,  August  18, 1783. 

"  DEAR  SIR,  —  Your  favor  of  the  16th  I  received ;  am  sorry 
to  hear  of  our  dear  sister's  illness May  Heaven  con- 
tinue so  great  a  blessing  with  us ;  her  dearest  connections  in 
particular 

"  Your  very  rational,  generous,  and  religious  plan  of  im- 
proving moneys  for  the  advantage  of  the  public,  in  promoting 
education,  must  meet  my  fullest  approbation ;  and  in  conse- 
quence, command  my  future,  as  well  as  present,  attention,  — 
how  to  come  at  the  means  is  the  only  obstacle.  The  agree- 
ableness  of  your  neighbor  gives  me  pleasure.  Under  your 
very  many  cares  and  labors,  kind  Heaven  affords  you  many 
comfortable  enjoyments,  —  his  name  be  praised,  and  Himself 
will  doubtless  be  the  supreme  object  of  your  confidence  and 
joy.  Oh,  pray  that  it  may  be  so  with  your  poor  unworthy 
uncle,  whose  love  to  yourself  and  the  whole  family  is  most 
cordially  returned.  JOHN  PHILLIPS." 

In  speaking  of  the  erection  of  his  mansion,  we  have 


226  MEMOIR    OF 

stated  that  one  reason  for  his  building  so  large  a  house 
was  Judge  Phillips's  desire  to  show  suitable  hospitality 
to  his  numerous  friends.  Another  reason  was  his  wish 
to  have  a  few  members  of  the  Academy  in  his  family 
from  term  to  term.  For  the  sake  of  the  school  gen- 
erally, and  in  the  hope  of  special  usefulness  to  such 
as  became  members  of  his  family,  though  so  much 
absent  himself,  he  cherished  this  as  a  favorite  feature 
of  his  work,  and  Madam  Phillips  warmly  seconded 
his  views.  From  this  date,  therefore,  a  few  of  the 
scholars  found  a  home  here  year  after  year.  A 
sketch  of  "Mayor"  Phillips  of  Boston,  in  1825,  from 
the  pen  of  S.  L.  Knapp,  in  the  Boston  Monthly  Maga- 
zine, incidentally  shows  us  how  admirably  this  arrange- 
ment subserved  the  great  ends  of  the  school.  After 
speaking  of  the  Academy  itself,  he  says :  — 

"  Young  Phillips  had  other  high  advantages  for  improving 
his  mind  and  manners,  for  he  lived  in  the  house  of  his  kins- 
man, Samuel  Phillips,  which  was  also  an  admirable  school 
for  youth.  The  master  of  the  mansion  was  truly  a  great 
man,  distinguished  not  only  for  the  numerous  offices  he  held 
in  civil  and  political  life,  but  for  his  ardent  desire  to  promote 
the  cause  of  religion  and  learning  in  the  land,  believing  that 
the  permanency  of  our  freedom  depended  upon  the  diffusion  of 
knowledge  amongst  the  rising  generations.  .  .  .  Many  young 
men  were  permitted  to  live  in  his  house,  and  he  took  so 
deep  an  interest  in  the  pupils  of  the  Academy,  as  constantly 
to  keep  in  view  their  course  of  study,  and  frequently  to 
question  them  on  the  subject. 


JUDGE     PHILLIPS.  227 

"  In  these  dialogues  he  used  the  choicest  language  himself, 
and  was  careful  to  correct  the  youths  who  suffered  a  low, 
inappropriate,  or  equivocal  word  or  expression  to  escape 
them.  In  all  this  his  manner,  though  solemn,  was  kind,  and 
encouraged  the  most  timid  to  answer  his  inquiries,  and  put 
interrogatories  with  freedom. 

"  Mrs.  Phillips,  his  lady,  was  of  still  more  importance  to 
those  under  their  care  than  her  husband.  She  possessed  a 
mind  cultivated  by  extensive  reading,  and  manners  refined 
by  early  advantages,  and  a  long  acquaintance  with  the  best 
society.  She  was  blest  with  a  fine  flow  of  spirits,  a  rich  im- 
agination, an  affectionate  heart ;  and  acted  the  fond  mother 
to  all  under  her  roof,  or  within  the  reach  of  her  care.  It  was 
impossible  for  any  one  to  live  with  her  a  month,  without 
understanding  the  value  of  a  pure,  elevated,  and  polished 
woman  in  the  education  of  men."  l 

Still  another  reason  for  a  large  edifice  was,  the  wish 
of  Judge  Phillips  always  to  have  the  Trustees  meet 
at  his  house  and  share  in  his  hospitalities.  This  prac- 
tice of  entertaining  them,  gratuitously,  at  their  various 
official  meetings,  he  introduced  at  the  founding  of  the 
School,  and  continued  while  he  lived,  as  Madam  Phil- 
lips did  afterwards  during  her  lifetime. 

And  once  fairly  in  the  occupancy  of  his  new  resi- 
dence, with  such  views  and  aims  in  reference  to  the 
Academy,  he  was  soon  engaged  in  another  effort  to 
improve  the  Institution. 

1  Pages.  282,  283. 


MEMOIR    OF 

The  first  Academy  building,  even  if  it  had  been 
intended  for  permanent  use,  was  too  small  for  the 
enlarged  work  now  done  in  it.  Indeed,  it  had  been 
apparent,  after  only  two  years'  trial,  that  such  would 
be  the  case,  and  as  early  as  1780,  the  subject  of  erect- 
ing a  new  edifice  began  to  be  agitated;  in  1784,  the 
plan  and  location  of  it  were  determined,  and  a  com- 
mittee was  instructed  to  build  it  as  soon  as  the  neces- 
sary means  could  be  procured ;  during  the  year  1785, 
the  building  was  completed ;  and,  on  the  30th  of  Jan- 
uary, 1786,  the  school  was  removed  to  it,  in  the  last 
week  of  Mr.  Pearson's  service  as  Principal,  his  election 
as  Professor  at  Cambridge  having  been  already  ac- 
cepted.1 This  "  New  Academy,"  as  it  was  then  called, 
stood  near  the  south-west  corner  of  the  present  Semi- 
nary lawn,  opposite  the  Abbott  Professor's  house.  It 
was  a  two-story  edifice  of  wood,  with  recitation  rooms 
and  a  study  room  on  the  lower  floor,  arranged  for  one 
hundred  pupils,  and  a  spacious  hall  for  exhibitions  and 
other  public  purposes  on  the  second  floor.  The  old 
Academy  remained  for  many  years  on  its  original  site, 
where  it  was  for  a  time  used  as  a  singing-room,  then 
as  a  store-room  for  paper  rags,  etc.,  until,  in  1803,  it 
was  sold  and  removed  about  half  a  mile  eastward,  to 
be  fitted  up  for  a  dwelling-house,2  in  which  form  it 

1  Academy  Records,  p.  40,  45,  53,  55,  60. 

2  The  residence  for  many  years  of  widow  Hannah  Berry. 


JUDGE     PHILLIPS.  229 

remained  until  it  was  torn  down,  about  ten  years  since, 
to  make  room  for  a  new  house  on  the  same  spot. 

The  "  New  Academy "  was  worthy  of  the  growing 
reputation  of  the  School.  But  how  were  the  means 
obtained  to  erect  and  furnish  it  ?  It  was  located  on  a 
portion  of  one  of  Judge  Phillips's  recent  purchases, 
which  he  had  transferred  to  the  Trustees  in  exchange 
for  the  site  of  his  mansion-house ;  the  building  was 
erected  under  his  direction,  at  the  joint  expense  of  the 
two  original  Founders,  and  their  brother,  Hon.  William 
Phillips  of  Boston;  "they,"  as  the  entry  in  the  Jour- 
nal states,  "  having  given  the  same  to  the  Trustees  in 
equal  parts,"  together  with  the  training  field  on  the 
south  side  of  the  road.  The  whole  cost  was  three 
thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty-six  dollars  and  sixty- 
six  cents  ;  for  which  the  Institution  was  not  only 
indebted  to  their  liberality,  but  to  the  influence  of 
Judge  Phillips  in  eliciting  it.  Prior  to  the  erection  of 
this  commodious  building,  the  exhibitions  of  the 
School  had  been  held  in  the  village  church.  In  1788, 
two  years  after  it  was  completed,  the  use  of  the  Hall 
on  the  Sabbath  was  tendered  by  the  Trustees  to  the 
Parish  as  a  place  of  worship,  while  the  old  meeting- 
house could  be  demolished  and  a  new  one  built,  Judge 
Phillips  being  appointed  to  communicate  the  vote.1 

While  these  changes  were  in  progress,  both  in  con- 
nection with  the  school  and  with  his  private  affairs,  he 

1  Appendix,  J. 

20 


230  MEMOIR    OF 

had  erected  a  store,  East  of  the  old  Academy,  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  highway,  near  the  present  front 
entrance  to  the  Seminary  grounds.  In  this  state  "  the 
Hill "  remained  now  for  a  considerable  period,  the  man- 
sion-house, the  new  Academy,1  and  the  store  being  the 
only  additions  as  yet  to  the  buildings  which  were  in 
existence  at  the  opening  of  the  School.  Such  was  the 
aspect  of  things  here,  at  the  time  of  Washington's  visit. 
An  old  stone  wall  inclosed  the  tract  now  in  front  of 
the  Seminary  buildings,  in  which  the  rocks,  birches, 
alders,  bushes,  and  briars  of  every  sort  were  still  undis- 
turbed ;  the  lands  south  and  north  of  the  old  Academy 
were  occupied  as  a  farm  for  tillage  and  pasturage;  there 
was  a  plain  face  wall  along  the  front  line  of  Judge 
Phillips's  house  lot,  and  the  area  in  front  of  his  mansion 
was  an  open  common,  as  seen  in  the  accompanying 
outline. 

Before  the  new  Academy  was  completed,  Dr.  Phil- 
lips had  often  expressed  the  desire  that  Judge  Phillips 
would  do  him  the  favor  to  sit  for  his  portrait,  respect- 
ing which  we  insert  the  following  extract  as  an  illus- 
tration of  their  mutual  regard :  — 

"  BOSTON,  February  7,  1 785. 

"  HONORED  SIR,  —  ...  Your  repeated  mention  of  a  sub- 
ject, which  is  a  farther  evidence  of  your  partiality  for  your 

1  The  "  New  Academy,"  which  is  remembered  by  large  numbers 
of  the  Alumni  of  the  School  as  their  literary  home,  was  destroyed 
by  fire  on  the  night  of  January  30,  1818. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  231 

unworthy  nephew,  demands  my  warmest  acknowledgments. 
To  comply  with  your  desire  while  the  Court  is  sitting  is  not 
in  my  power,  being  constantly  taken  up  from  ten  in  the 
morning  till  nine  at  night,  with  only  a  short  intermission  at 
noon ;  and  I  hope  to  obtain  my  uncle's  consent  for  a  delay, 
for  the  present  at  least.  The  hurry  of  the  gentleman  who 
will  carry  this  to  Haverhill,  gives  me  only  time  to  add  that 
we  have  the  prospect  of  a  permanent  bridge  of  Charles 
River,1  that  friends  at  Boston  are  well,  and  that  I  am, 
"  With  the  most  dutiful  respect, 

"  Your  obliged  nephew,         S.  P.,  JR." 

1  "This  was  the  first  effort,"  says  Dr.  Dwight,  "to  erect  a  bridge 
over  a  broad  river  in  the  American  States.  A  brief  account  of  its 
origin  will  not  be  destitute  of  interest. 

"  Judge  Russell,  the  gentleman  whom  I  have  already  respectfully 
mentioned,  was  long  and  ardently  desirous  that  a  bridge  should  be 
erected  between  these  towns.  As  he  advanced  in  years  he  became 
more  and  more  solicitous  to  see  the  work  accomplished.  His  son, 
the  late  Hon.  Thomas  Russell,  and  his  son-in-law,  the  late  Hon. 
John  Lowell,  District  Judge  of  Massachusetts,  together  with  several 
other  gentlemen  connected  with  them,  were  earnestly  desirous  to  see 
the  wishes  of  this  venerable  man  realized.  At  that  time  it  was  uni- 
versally believed,  that  for  a  river  so  wide  and  a  current  so  strong,  a 
floating  bridge  was  the  only  practicable  structure  of  this  nature. 
They,  therefore,  engaged  a  gentleman  to  obtain  for  them  a  correct 
account  of  the  construction,  expense,  convenience,  and  security,  of 
the  floating  bridge,  then  lying  on  the  Schuylkill  at  Philadelphia. 
Several  other  persons,  at  that  time  bound  for  Europe,  they  requested 
also  to  furnish  them  with  similar  information  concerning  bridges  in 
that  quarter  of  the  globe.  While  this  business  was  in  agitation,  both 
the  gentlemen  being  on  a  visit  at  Cambridge  during  the  session  of 


232  MEMOIR    OF 

Not  unwilling  to  gratify  his  uncle,  he  is  yet  so  intent 
on  other  cares  that  he  cannot  find  the  time  for  an  act 
so  personal !  And  it  was  this  absorbing  devotion  to  his 
life's  work,  which  drew  the  heart  of  his  uncle  toward 
him  with  so  much  affectionate  confidence. 

After  a  brief  interval,  therefore,  we  find  them  again 

the  Supreme  Judicial  Court,  they  made  the  projected  bridge  a  sub- 
ject of  conversation  with  the  Hon.  David  Sewall,  one  of  the  judges. 
In  the  course  of  this  conversation,  the  designs  mentioned  above  were 
particularly  stated.  On  his  return  to  York,  the  place  of  his  resi- 
dence, Judge  Sewall  communicated  this  information  to  his  brother, 
Major  Sewall,  a  gentleman  distinguished  for  peculiar  mechanical  tal- 
ents. After  being  informed  that  the  difficulties  presented  by  the 
stream  furnished  the  only  reason  for  erecting  a  floating  bridge,  Major 
Sewall  observed  that  a  fixed  bridge  might  be  constructed,  as  easily 
and  certainly,  to  be  secure  from  the  dangers  of  the  current.  His 
brother  requested  him  to  state  his  views  to  the  gentlemen  concerned. 
Accordingly  he  formed,  and  communicated,  a  scheme  for  the  intended 
structure.  After  this  scheme  had  been  thoroughly  examined,  the 
original  design  was  relinquished,  and  the  present  bridge  begun.  At 
the  request  of  the  undertakers,  Major  Sewall  came  to  Boston,  and 
continued  to  superintend  the  work,  until  he  had  completely  possessed 
the  builders  of  the  principles  on  which  it  was  to  be  accomplished." 
..."  Charlestown  bridge  was  finished  in  1787.  It  is  built  on 
seventy-five  wooden  piers,  and  is  forty-two  feet  in  breadth,  and  one 
thousand  five  hundred  and  three  in  length ;  the  river  being  here  two 
hundred  and  eighty  feet  wider  than  the  Thames  at  Westminster,  and 
six  hundred  and  three  feet  wider  than  the  same  river  at  London 
bridge.  It  is  also  deeper."  ..."  The  bridge  was  built  by  two  able 
and  ingenious  American  artists,  Messrs.  Cox  and  -Stone,  and  cost  fifty 
thousand  dollars."  —  Dw igh t's  Travels,  Vol.  I.  p.  495-497. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  233 

interchanging  letters  in  reference  to  the  Academy  at 
Andover,  which  resulted  in  giving  it  an  entirely  new 
and  most  important  feature.  The  Institution  was  now, 
for  the  time,  amply  furnished  with  lands  and  buildings ; 
but  Judge  Phillips,  who  had  from  the  first  wished  to 
make  it  as  far  as  possible  an  inexpensive  school,  was 
specially  interested  to  connect  with  it  every  prac- 
ticable aid  to  the  indigent,  and  particularly  to  candi- 
dates for  the  gospel  ministry ;  nor  had  Dr.  Phillips,  in 
all  his  efforts  at  Exeter,  lost  sight  of  this  great  want  at 
Andover.  We  introduce  here  a  portion  of  their  cor- 
respondence on  this  subject. 

"  EXETER,  March  15,  1789. 

"  DEAR  KINSMAN,  —  I  thank  you  for  your  kind  concern  for 
my  health,  expressed  in  polite  and  endearing  terms ;  may 
your  pious  wishes  with  respect  to  any  future  usefulness  be 
answered:  and  particularly  with  regard  to  our  Academies. 
Gracious  Heaven  bless  them  both^  in  this  and  future  genera- 
tions !  And  may  your  cares,  labors,  and  experience,  be  eter- 
nally and  most  bountifully  rewarded ;  your  numbers  exceed 
those  here  —  and  of  Latin  pupils  especially.  I  think  Mr. 
Abbott  has  forty-five  this  spring,  and  proves  a  faithful  in- 
structor. .  .  . 

"  President  Wheelock  was  with  me  about  five  weeks. 
The  Court  allowed  payment  of  my  donation  in  State  notes. 
...  As  for  obtaining  help  from  Government,  towards  sup- 
port of  a  Professor  of  Divinity,  there  is  no  prospect  of  it.  I 
purchased  of  the  President  five  hundred  acres  of  College 
land,  at  an  easy  rate,  and  promised  to  quit  it,  provided  the 

20* 


234  MEMOIR    OF 

Trustees  would  appropriate  this,  and  all  other  lands  1  had 
given  them,  to  the  support  of  a  Professor  of  Divinity." 

"  EXETER,  April  20,  1789. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR,  —  I  received  your  kind  favor  of  the  16th 
instant,  and  am  much  obliged  by  your  just  and  useful  obser- 
vations with  respect  to  Academy  instructors.  I  have  had 
your  Bradford  scholar  much  in  my  mind;  but  upon  your 
recommendation  shall  turn  my  attention  more  upon  Dana. 

"  With  regard  to  your  acceptance  of  an  office,  you  may 
very  soon  be  elected  to,  what  shall  or  can  I  be  expected  to 
say  ?  especially  as  I  am  ignorant  of  the  salary.  Your  great 
and  constant  attention  to  the  public  interest,  since  you  en- 
tered upon  the  stage  of  business,  has,  it  seems,  exposed  you 
to  losses  and  embarrassments  in  your  private  concerns, —  and 
you  are  now  become  more  sensible  of  the  importance  and 
even  the  necessity  of  providing  for  your  family,  making  pay- 
ments, etc.  etc.  In  this  you  are  undoubtedly  right :  —  what 
very  clear  and  indisputable  tendency  your  closing  with  a 
certain  offer  would  have  hereto,  all  circumstances  considered, 
yourself,  and  your  nearest  and  most  dear  connections  are 
much  better  judges  than  I  can  be ;  especially  in  my  present 
weak  state  of  body  and  mind,  which  forbids  any  very  intense 
thought. 

"  With  respect  to  our  Andover  Academy,  your  personal 
oversight  was  what  I  had  in  •  view,  at  the  first ;  and  have 
hitherto  rejoiced  in  the  peculiar  benefit  of  it.  The  expense 
arising  from  the  late  elegant  building,  you  will  be  so  good  as 
to  acquaint  me  with.  I  have  long  been  thinking  whether 
the  donation  for  pious  and  charitable  uses  might  not  be  best 
secured  by  the  whole  number  of  Trustees,  because  they  are  a 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  235 

body  politic;  and  may  very  judiciously  order  and  improve 
that  part  of  the  Academy  estate,  as  may  best  answer  the 
design.  Ten  years  are  past  since  I  first  wrote  about  such  a 
donation;  and  'tis  likely  as  many  more  may  pass,  before  pay- 
ments on  the  notes  of  hand  will  be  generally  obtained. 
What  will  you  and  your  judicious  father  and  uncle  William 
object  to  the  admitting  into  the  Academy  a  number  of  poor 
children  of  good  morals,  and  a  very  promising  genius,  and 
support  in  part  or  wholly  till  they  are  sufficiently  proved  ? 

"  As  to  a  college  education,  'tis  what  I  never  had  in 
view, — some,  however,  will  not  be  contented  without  it;  and 
those  of  ability  will  act  their  pleasure.  The  very  best  Aca- 
demical education  may  surely  answer  some  of  the  best  and 
most  valuable  purposes.  And  if  the  Trustees  of  our  Acade- 
mies, in  some  future  time,  employ  a  very  sound  Theological 
Professor,  why  may  not  some  of  the  most  orthodox  and 
pious  preachers  proceed  from  them  ?  or  why  may  not  charity 
scholars  be  expected  to  obtain  a  degree,  if  well  qualified 
therefor,  at  some  of  our  Colleges?  .  .  .  May  you,  my  dear 
and  loving  kinsman,  be  under  the  Divine  direction.  As  duty 
appears,  you  will  act.  If  God  calls  you,  his  presence  will  go 
with  you,  and  this  shall  be  my  comfort ! 

"  I  am,  with  our  love  to  your  whole  self  and  the  children, 

"  Most  affectionately  yours,  J.  PHILLIPS. 

"  Hon.  SAMUEL  PHILLIPS,  JR.,  Esq." 

"BOSTON,  May  30,  1789. 

"  HONORED  SIR,  —  I  have  attempted  repeatedly  to  write  to 
you,  but  have  been  as  often  prevented  by  one  means  and 
another.  .  .  .  Will  it  not  be  best  that  charity  scholars  should, 
in  all  cases,  be  required  to  do  what  they  can  for  themselves  ? 


236  MEMOIR    OP 

I  mean  without  interfering  with  their  studies,  in  order  that 
the  Academy  Fund  may  be  made  as  extensively  useful  as 
possible  ?  Some  precaution  of  this  nature  I  had  in  my 
mind  to  suggest  the  expediency  of,  now  you  are  putting  your 
donation  for  pious  and  charitable  uses  into  the  hands  of  the 
Trustees  :  —  and  one  more  I  will  venture  to  hint ;  where  a 
charity  scholar,  after  having  obtained  a  competent  share  of 
knowledge,  shall  from  inclination  pursue  any  other  study  and 
Profession  than  that  of  Divinity,  —  or  where  a  person,  after 
having  received  the  benefit  of  this  donation,  shall  engage  in 
trade  or  any  other  lucrative  business,  and  thereby  advance 
his  interest,  or  be  guilty  of  any  foul  immorality,  —  in  either 
of  those  cases,  should  not  the  favored  person  be  held  to  repay 
the  money  expended  for  his  benefit,  in  whole  or  in  part,  and 
with  or  without  interest,  according  as  his  circumstances  may 
enable  him?  Will  it  not  be  proper  to  require,  that  none 
shall  enjoy  the  benefit  of  this  donation  but  persons  of  truth 
and  fidelity,  and  such  as  give  good  evidence  of  their  piety 
and  virtue  ? 

"  Will  it  not  be  desirable  to  empower  the  Trustees  to  ex- 
pend part  of  the  income  for  some  other  special  purpose,  when 
two  thirds  of  them  shall  judge  that  the  great  objects  in  view 
will  be  better  promoted  by  any  other  particular  appropriation 
of  such  part  than  by  the  support  of  charity  scholars  ?  Your 
own  consent,  where  the  opinion  of  the  majority  shall  be  in 
favor  of  such  other  appropriation,  should  authorize  it ;  im- 
portant advantages  might  arise  from  such  a  liberty,  if  due 
care  be  taken  to  prevent  misapplication. 

"  Would  it  not  have  this  tendency,  if  you  should  reserve 
the  right  of  naming  some  person,  before  your  decease,  whose 
consent  afterwards  should  be  necessary,  in  order  to  justify 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  237 

such  different  appropriation,  —  he  to  have  no  power  in  the 
case,  unless  one  half  or  two  thirds  of  the  board  should  be  in 
favor  of  the  measure  ?  Such  person,  being  the  object  of 
special  confidence,  would,  if  deserving  it,  feel  a  special  obli- 
gation to  vigilance,  and  to  see  that  the  intention  of  the  donor 
was  executed.  I  hope  the  right  will  be  reserved  of  making 
any  such  other  special  appropriation  of  such  part  of  the  inter- 
est as  you  shall  judge  proper,  during  your  lifetime,  perpetual. 

"  Will  not  the  state  of  your  health  admit  of  your  afford- 
ing us  the  pleasure  of  your  company  at  the  Trustee  meeting 
of  your  Andover  Academy  ?  I  presume  my  uncle  William 
will  be  there;  —  your  meeting  the  brethren  would  be  very 
pleasing,  and  the  other  Trustees  will  be  highly  gratified,  but 
none  more  than  he  who  has  received  so  many  expressions  of 
affection,  though  so  unworthy  of  them  ;  —  you  doubtless  re- 
member that  the  meeting  is  to  be  on  Tuesday,  in  the  week 
before  Commencement  at  Cambridge,  which  will  be  the  7th 
of  July.  If  the  proposed  transfer  of  your  donation  should 
take  place  at  this  meeting,  that  will  afford  a  further  reason 
for  your  being  present ;  .  .  .  but  any  or  all  the  reasons  to- 
gether will  not  be  sufficient  to  justify  your  exposing  your- 
self. .  .  . 

"  Please  to  present  my  duty  to  my  aunt. 
"  I  am  with  unfeigned  gratitude, 

"  Your  much  obliged  and  dutiful  nephew, 

"  S.  PHILLIPS,  JR." 

The  donation  to  the  Andover  Academy  referred  to 
in  these  letters,  amounting  to  more  than  twenty  thou- 
sand dollars,  was  finally  made  in  October,  1789,  and 
communicated  in  due  form  to  the  Trustees  at  their 


238  MEMOIR    OF 

next  annual  meeting  in  July,  1790.  As  the  deed  of 
gift,  conveying  this  munificent  sum,  is  not  now  to  be 
found  among  the  files  of  the  Institution,  his  aim  in 
the  donation,  and  the  connection  of  Judge  Phillips 
with  it,  must  be  inferred  from  their  letters,  and  from 
the  following  record. 

On  receiving  the  donation,  the  Trustees  immediately 
"  Voted,  That  the  Honorable  Samuel  Phillips,  Jr.,  Kev. 
Mr.  Tappan,  and  Mr.  Pearson  be  a  committee,  to  draft 
a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  Honorable  John  Phillips,  Esq., 
for  his  very  generous  donation  to  the  Academy."  Their 
draft,  which  was  reported  and  adopted,  was  in  these 
words :  — 

"  The  Board,  having  been  made  acquainted  by  a  legal  in- 
strument, bearing  date  the  16th  day  of  October,  1789,  this 
day  communicated,  that  the  Honorable  John  Phillips,  Esq., 
of  Exeter,  one  of  the  founders  of  this  Academy,  '  for  and  in 
consideration  of  further  promoting  the  virtuous  and  pious 
education  of  youth,  (poor  children  of  genius,  and  of  serious 
disposition  especially,)  in  Phillips  Academy,  founded  in  An- 
dover,  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,'  has  given  and  granted 
to  the  Trustees  of  said  Academy  and  their  successors,  or 
their  order,  certain  notes  of  hand,  therein  described,  to  a  very 
large  amount,  under  certain  reservations,  therein  mentioned, 

"  Voted,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Board  be  presented  to  the 
Honorable  John  Phillips,  Esq.,  for  his  before-cited  pious  and 
liberal  donation,  whereby  he  has  still  further  manifested  his 
generous  and  ardent  zeal  for  the  promotion  of  knowledge, 
virtue,  and  piety,  and  conferred  an  additional  and  lasting  ob- 
ligation upon  the  Academy. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  239 

"  Upon  this  occasion,  the  Trustees  cannot  but  add  their 
fervent  wish  and  prayer,  that  the  DONOR,  the  distinguished 
Friend  and  Patron  of  science  and  religion,  may  live  to  behold, 
with  increasing  joy  and  satisfaction,  the  happy  fruits  of  this, 
and  of  all  his  other  pious  liberalities ;  and  at  a  very  remote 
period,  his  numerous  acts  of  benevolence  may  receive  that 
reward,  which  original  and  infinite  goodness  can  bestow."  1 

We  have  thus  far  been  the  more  particular  in  our 
statements  of  the  varied  agency  which  Judge  Phillips 
had  in  enlisting  the  cooperation  of  this  uncle,  and  also 
of  his  father  and  other  relatives  in  his  plans,  because, 
while  ascribing  so  high  an  honor  to  him,  we  have 
wished  also  to  do  ample  justice  to  them. 

It  is  a  remarkable  circumstance,  that  this  noble  dona- 
tion of  his  uncle  at  Exeter  was  communicated  to  the 
Board  at  the  last  meeting  which  his  father,  the  elder 
brother,  ever  attended ;  and  we  cannot  so  well  pay  the 
tribute,  which  we  have  contemplated,  to  these  three 
brothers,  at  any  other  stage  of  our  narrative,  as  by 
presenting  them  in  a  group  in  this  connection. 

The  eldest  of  this  distinguished  trio,  Samuel  Phillips, 
Esq.,  of  North  Andover,  has  been  already  somewhat 
distinctly  brought  before  the  reader,  by  our  incidental 
references  to  him  in  the  progress  of  this  memoir. 
After  graduating  at  Harvard  College  in  1734,  he  for  a 

1  Academy  Records,  p.  77,  78. 


240  MEMOIR    OP 

short  period  instructed  the  grammar-school  in  his  na- 
tive town;  but  soon  devoted  himself  mainly  to  mer- 
cantile pursuits,  in  the  North  Parish,  where  he  contin- 
ued to  reside  for  more  than  fifty  years. 

Of  his  college  life  or  his  earlier  years,  we  have 
learned  no  important  particulars,  except  that  from  his 
childhood  upward  his  intellectual  and  moral  traits 
bore  a  remarkable  resemblance  to  his  revered  father's ; 
and  as  these  became  stereotyped  in  his  full  manhood, 
the  other  sons,  who  were  several  years  his  juniors,  hon- 
ored him  with  a  deference  similar  to  that  which  they 
all  felt  for  their  father. 

He  had  more  of  the  reverend  clergyman's  exact, 
rigid,  inflexible,  commanding  spirit,  than  they ;  and  less 
opportunity  or  disposition  to  temper  it,  by  an  enlarged 
intercourse  with  the  world ;  yet,  with  the  advantages 
of  his  home  education  and  his  collegiate  course,  he  was 
in  mind  and  manners,  a  man  of  letters,  not  less  than  a 
man  of  business.  There  is  not,  in  the  entire  gallery 
of  the  family  portraits,  one  which  catches  the  eye 
sooner  than  his,  for  its  courtly  and  dignified  mien.  He 
has  been  sometimes  represented  as  unduly  precise  and 
exacting,  both  as  a  merchant  and  a  magistrate ;  as  insist- 
ing too  tenaciously  upon  mere  rights,  to  the  neglect  of 
expediencies  and  amenities.  If  this  was  ever  the  case, 
it  may  have  been  as  justly  chargeable  to  the  times  as 
to  the  man ;  or  it  may  have  resulted  from  the  very  vir- 
tues for  which  he  is  to  be  honored ;  his  exalted  love 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  241 

of  justice,  his  high-toned  patriotism,  his  primitive  sim- 
plicity and  frugality,  his  fervent  religious  faith  and 
zeal. 

In  the  great  struggle  of  the  country  for  its  liberties, 
no  man  was  more  steadfast,  or  more  ardent  than  he. 
Other  civil  services  he  appears  to  have  carefully  per- 
formed, from  a  sense  of  duty  chiefly,  and  not  from 
any  special  interest  in  them,  —  but  in  the  Revolution 
his  whole  heart  became  enlisted.  The  entire  action 
of  the  town  in  the  contest,  so  much  of  which  we  have 
in  a  former  chapter  detailed,  was  spontaneous,  —  it 
was  such  action  as  a  community  of  patriots  would  most 
naturally  have  taken,  —  yet  it  was  specially  stimulated 
by  him,  as  an  acknowledged  leader.  When  they  gave 
him  "  instructions "  how  to  act  as  their  representative, 
it  was  at  his  suggestion;  and  with  his  own  pen  the 
instructions  were  carefully  drafted,  which  he  was  as 
careful  to  obey.  Even  the  ever  active  zeal  of  his  son 
here  did  not  surpass  the  heartiness  and  energy  of  the 
father's  patriotic  impulses;  and  it  has  seemed  to  us 
that  all  of  his  strongest  characteristics  shine  out  with 
more  lustre  here  than  anywhere  else. 

One  can  read,  without  special  note,  of  his  having 
been  long  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  of  the  Quorum, 
of  his  being  chosen  Representative  to  the  General 
Court  and  the  Convention  of  Deputies,  of  his  election 
as  one  of  the  Governor's  Council,  of  the  various  civil 
and  religious  offices  which  were  conferred  upon  him 

21 


242  MEMOIR    OF 

in  his  native  town,  and  which  he  discharged  with  ac- 
ceptance, as  well  as  of  his  unsullied  probity  and  great 
success  in  business ;  but  when  we  see  how  eagerly  his 
best  efforts  were  put  forth,  year  after  year,  among  the 
very  foremost  of  the  Revolutionary  patriots,  we  most 
heartily  admire  and  revere  him. 

His  connection  with  Phillips  Academy,  however,  as 
one  of  its  founders,  is  the  fact  in  his  history,  which,  more 
than  any  thing  else,  will  give  him  a  lasting  name. 
Though  so  deeply  involved  in  the  Revolutionary  strug- 
gle, like  his  son,  he  found  time  and  inclination  minutely 
to  scan  this  literary  project  in  all  its  bearings  ;  and,  as 
it  came  to  maturity,  devoted  to  it  his  time  and  counsel 
and  money,  with  an  intelligent  interest  commensurate 
with  its  importance.  Residing  so  near  the  Institution, 
however,  and  in  almost  daily  conference  as  he  was 
with  his  son,  there  are  few  memorials  of  his  agency 
left  in  letters  or  other  manuscripts,  except  the  Records 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

At  the  organization  of  this  Board  he  was  unani- 
mously chosen  President,  and  was  annually  reflected 
to  this  office  until  his  decease.  Scarcely  a  meeting  of 
the  Trustees  was  held,  for  this  whole  period  of  more 
than  twelve  years,  which  he  did  not  attend ;  although 
the  details  of  service  in  various  particulars  were  usu- 
ally assigned  to  the  younger  members,  under  the  lead 
of  his  son.  No  feature  of  the  school  appears  to  have 
interested  him  so  much  as  its  religious  aims  and  ten- 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  243 

dencies ;  devoted  as  he  had  ever  been  in  his  attach- 
ment to  the  sound  and  vital  faith  of  his  fathers. 

Cooperating  thus  actively  with  his  son  in  plans  and 
efforts  to  benefit  the  Academy,  and  often  renewing  his 
gifts  to  relieve  its  exigencies  or  to  augment  its  useful- 
ness, he  had  the  great  joy,  at  last,  of  seeing  its  endow- 
ments munificently  reinforced  by  the  ample  donation 
of  his  brother  and  co-founder ;  and  then  he  could  well 
say,  "Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in 
peace."  He  died  shortly  after  this  donation  was  ten- 
dered to  the  Board,  August  21,  1790,  aged  seventy-five 
years  and  six  months ;  and  as  his  death  thus  began  to 
dissolve  the  band  of  the  Academy's  originators  and 
patrons,  all  who  were  connected  with  the  Institution 
united  in  paying  their  tribute  to  his  memory. 

An  obituary  notice  in  the  "  Centinel "  states  that,  — 

"  His  funeral  was  attended  with  great  solemnity.     The  or- 
der of  procession  was  as  follows :  — 

The  Students  of  the  Academy. 
The  Assistant  and  Writing  Instructor. 

The  Principal. 
The  Trustees,  all  with  the  usual  badge  of  mourning. 

The  Corpse, 

Followed  by  the  mourners,  and  a  numerous   train   of  respectable 
friends  and  acquaintances. 

In  this  order  they  proceeded  from  the  late  mansion  of  the 
deceased  to  the  meeting-house ;  where,  after  a  very  pertinent 
prayer  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Symmes,  a  judicious  and  pathetic 


244  MEMOIR     OF 

oration  was  delivered  by  Mr.   Pemberton,   Principal  of  the 

Academy The  solemnities  were  introduced  by  a  hymn 

and  closed  by  an  anthem,  excellently  adapted  to  the  occasion. 
In  the  same  order  the  procession  moved  from  the  meeting- 
house to  the  place  of  interment It  is  but  a  just  trib- 
ute to  uncommon  merit  to  observe,  that  if  integrity  of  heart, 
and  purity  of  morals,  an  exemplary  conduct  in  private  life, 
a  conscientious,  faithful  discharge  of  the  various  offices  he 
sustained,  and  singular  liberality  in  the  cause  of  religion  and 
learning,  constitute  a  good  and  great  character,  it  was  emi- 
nently his." 1 

The  second  of  the  three  brothers,  Hon.  John  Phil- 
lips, LL.  D.,  of  Exeter,  now  claims  our  notice.  Of 
his  connection  with  the  chief  subject  of  this  me- 
moir, in  the  founding  and  endowment  of  Phillips  Acad- 
emy, and  also  of  Phillips  Exeter  Academy,  we  have 
spoken  at  large  heretofore.  His  regard  for  Judge 
Phillips,  which  so  often  throws  its  fascination  around 
us,  was  doubtless  the  incentive  with  him  to  not  a  little 
of  all  this  varied  generosity.  Yet  the  more  we  have 
studied  and  admired  them  together,  the  more  have 
they  seemed  to  us  to  be  linked  with  each  other  in 
such  deeds  by  a  strong  native  congeniality  of  spirit. 

1  His  wife,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Phillips  had  died,  the  previous  autumn, 
aged  seventy-one ;  an  obituary  notice  of  whom,  at  the  time,  closes 
with  these  lines  :  — 

"  Think  what  the  mother,  Christian,  friend,  should  be, 
You  've  then  her  character,  for  such  was  she." 


JUDGE     PHILLIPS.  245 

We  do  not  conceive  it  possible  to  say  any  thing  more 
just  or  honorable  to  Dr.  Phillips,  than  to  characterize 
him  as  eminently  like  his  nephew,  the  Judge. 

Dr.  Phillips,  like  his  elder  brother,  had  obtained  a 
liberal  education ;  and  after  graduating  from  Harvard 
College,  in  1735,  but  one  year  later  than  his  brother, 
had  engaged  in  teaching  for  a  short  period,  when,  with 
such  preparation  as  the  times  afforded,  he  began  to 
preach  the  Gospel.  Numbers  of  the  sermons  which 
he  wrote  are  still  preserved ;  and  it  could  not  have 
been  from  any  want  of  regard  for  the  profession,  or 
any  want  of  encouragement  in  it,  that  he  finally  relin- 
quished it;  for  in  subsequent  years,  after  settling  in 
business  at  Exeter,  and  teaching  a  classical  school  there 
for  a  time,  when  the  church  in  that  village,  in  which 
he  was  a  ruling  elder,  was  seeking  a  new  pastor,  he 
was  unanimously  invited  to  accept-  that  office.  He  is 
said  to  have  often  stated,  and  especially  after  he  had 
repeatedly  listened  to  the  preaching  of  Whitefield,  that 
he  did  not  feel  qualified  for  the  ministry. 

Turning,  therefore,  to  pursuits  for  which  he  deemed 
himself  better  fitted,  he  became  distinguished  not  only 
for  his  hearty  sympathy  with  the  clergy,  but  for  his 
zeal  in  fostering  institutions  to  educate  them.  It  was 
with  the  most  liberal  and  far-reaching  views  that  he 
dispensed  his  gifts  in  this  great  work.  Instead  of  with- 
drawing his  aid  from  Andover,  after  he  had  undertaken 

21* 


246  MEMOIR    Of 

so  much  at  Exeter,  he  added  donation  to  donation, 
until  his  gifts  to  Phillips  Academy,  including  a  legacy 
by  his  will,  amounted  to  more  than  thirty  thousand 
dollars.  To  his  Academy  at  Exeter  his  donations  were 
much  larger.  With  other  friends  of  learning  in  New 
England,  he  contributed  also  liberally  to  the  funds  of 
Princeton  College.  In  Dartmouth  College,  of  which 
he  was  for  twenty  years  a  trustee,  he  endowed  a  Pro- 
fessorship of  Theology ;  and  wherever  his  money  was 
thus  bestowed,  his  heart  went  with  it. 

Had  he  not  left  these  various  monuments  to  his 
memory,  his  rare  capacity  and  success  as  a  merchant, 
his  aptness  as  a  teacher,  his  honors  as  colonel  of  the 
militia,  or  as  one  of  the  special  justices  of  the  Superior 
Court,  might  have  been  thought  worthy  of  note ;  but 
it  is  as  the  liberal  patron  of  institutions  of  learning 
that  he  has  been,  and  deserves  to  be,  especially  hon- 
ored. 

After  the  decease  of  his  elder  brother,  he  was  chosen 
President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  at  Andover,  which 
office  he  held  until  his  death,  April  21,  1795,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-five  years  and  eight  months;  and  the 
inscription  which  Professor  Pearson  is  said  to  have  pro- 
posed for  his  monument,  has  seemed  to  us  an  admi- 
rable expression  of  the  spirit  in  which  so  beneficent  a 
life  was  closed  at  last.  By  his  will,  two  thirds  of  his 
estate  was  bequeathed  to  the  Exeter  Academy,  and 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  247 

one  third  to  the  Academy  at  Andover ;  and  this  was 
the  proposed  epitaph :  — 

"  Without  natural  issue,  he  made  posterity  his  heir" l 

The  younger  brother,  Hon.  William  Phillips  of  Bos- 
ton, had  already  begun  to  catch  the  spirit  of  the  oth- 
ers, with  reference  to  the  endowment  of  institutions 
of  learning,  but  was  for  the  most  part  engaged  in  pros- 
ecuting other  enterprises.  Without  the  advantages  of 
a  liberal  education,  he  had  so  much  native  force  of 
mind,  and  so  much  practical  culture  from  his  inter- 
course with  men  of  eminence  in  every  profession,  that 
there  were  few  in  our  metropolis  who  exerted  a  more 
marked  or  salutary  influence.  Repairing  at  the  early 
age  of  fifteen  to  the  city  as  a  clerk  to  Edward  Brom- 
field,  Esq.,  and  subsequently  marrying  the  daughter  of 
his  employer,2  he  became  a  partner  with  him  in  the 
firm,  and  rapidly  amassed  a  large  fortune. 

As  a  representative  from  Boston  in  the  General 
Court,  as  a  member  of  the  Senate  and  of  the  Gov- 
ernor's Council,  as  a  delegate  to  the  Convention  for  rat- 

1  This  epitaph  reminds  one  of  the  memorable  saying  in  regard  to 
Washington,  "  Heaven  wrote  him  childless,  that  millions  might  find  him 
a  Father  !  "  —  Knapp's  Sketches,  under  the  signature  of  Ignatius  Loy- 
ola Robinson,  LL.  D.,  p.  253. 

2  By  this  marriage  a  great-great-grandson  of  the  first  minister  of 
Watertown,  was  united  to  a  great-great-granddaughter  of  the  first 
minister  of  Boston,  Rev.  John  Wilson,  who  had  come  from  England, 
it  will  be  remembered,  in  the  same  company. 


248  MEMOIR     OF 

ifying  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  in 
other  offices,  he  had  a  long  and  honorable  career  of 
civil  service ;  in  every  stage  of  which  he  was  promi- 
nent among  the  men  of  the  period,  especially  in  those 
emergencies  which  called  for  the  highest  judgment  and 
resolution.  Throughout  the  entire  period  of  the  Kev- 
olution,  his  name  will  be  found  constantly  associated 
with  the  Adamses,  and  Bowdoin,  and  Hancock,  and 
other  leading  patriots.1  His  eldest  daughter  was  mar- 
ried to  Josiah  Quincy,  Jr.,  and  had  taken  refuge  with 
the  family  in  Norwich  during  the  siege  of  Boston, 
when  that  heroic  young  orator  died  on  his  return 
voyage  from  England.  With  the  firmest  and  stoutest 
of  heart,  he  bore  the  very  brunt  of  the  conflict  with 
Governor  Gage;  boldly  protesting,  in  person,  against 
his  arbitrary  measures,  and  resisting  him  at  every  step. 
But  as  these  scenes,  which  so  well  elicited  his  zeal 
and  decision,  passed  away,  the  current  of  his  life  moved 
on  again  calm  and  clear  in  its  old  channels ;  and  from 
spending  his  fortune  freely  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  he 
began  to  make  it  more  directly  tributary  to  the  cause 
of  education  and  religion.  Retaining  still  his  careful- 
ness and  exactness  in  all  the  daily  details  of  business, 
his  house  was  the  hospitable  home  of  the  clergy  from 

1  The  "  Committee  of  Safety,"  for  example,  chosen  in  Boston, 
July  26,  1774,  were  James  Bowdoin,  Samuel  Adams,  John  Adams, 
John  Hancock,  William  Phillips,  Joseph  Warren,  and  Josiah  Quincy. 
—  Frothingham's  History  of  the  Siege  of  Boston,  p.  29. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  249 

every  quarter;  and  whenever  they  or  others  sought 
the  aid  of  his  hand  in  any  work  of  charity,  it  was 
freely  bestowed. 

It  was  at  his  house  that  Judge  Phillips  usually  stayed, 
year  after  year,  during  his  long  service  in  the  General 
Court ;  so  unwilling  were  the  family  ever  to  have  him 
go  elsewhere.  There  are  numerous  passages  in  the  let- 
ters of  Judge  Phillips,  in  which,  with  a  touching  fulness 
of  heart,  he  expresses  his  sense  of  the  kindness  which 
he  here  received.  One  of  these  acknowledgments  we 
cannot  forbear  to  extract.  "January  26,  1795,"  he 
writes,  when  suffering  from  illness:  "My  uncle  and 
aunt  are  very  cautious  of  my  doing  any  thing  that 
may  hazard  an  exposure.  They  show  me  all  the  atten- 
tion, care,  and  affection  that  they  could,  if  I  was  their 
child,  and  an  only  child."  ...  In  the  same  letter  he 
says,  in  reference  to  the  devoted  attentions  of  his 
aunt:  "I  can  hardly  realize  that  the  disciple  who 
washed  the  feet  of  our  Divine  Saviour  and  wiped  them 
with  her  hair,  had  a  better  heart  than  this  Christian." 
..."  This  instance  of  condescending  goodness  in  the 
lady  of  a  gentleman  of  the  first  fortune  in  New  Eng- 
land, and  one  of  the  first  in  the  United  States,"  as  he 
characterizes  it,  he  gives  "as  a  specimen  of  that  un- 
wearied kindness  which  is  shown  "  him. 

To  the  Academy  at  Andover,  which  his  beloved 
nephew  was  ever  fostering,  this  uncle  had  already 
made  liberal  donations ;  having,  besides  other  gifts, 


250  MEMOIR    OF 

borne  his  third  with  the  other  brothers  of  the  expense 
of  erecting  the  new  building.  On  the  12th  of  March, 
1797,  Judge  Phillips  writes  in  haste  to  Madam  Phil- 
lips :  — 

"  MY  DEAR  FRIEND,  —  If  this  reaches  you  before  you  have 
sent  a  horse  and  chaise  for  me,  please  to  omit  it  till  Tues- 
day. My  uncle  has  desired  me  to  assist  him  about  a  piece 
of  business  this  week  that  I  know  you  will  be  pleased  with. 
Indeed,  it  is  doubtful  whether  I  shall  be  able  to  get  home 
before  Thursday. 

"  I  am  affectionately  yours,  S.  P." 

The  explanation  of  this  hint  is  found  in  the  codicil 
to  his  uncle's  will,  dated  April  18,  1797,  devising,  with 
other  charitable  bequests,  the  sum  of  four  thousand 
dollars  to  Phillips  Academy,  as  a  fund  for  aiding  indi- 
gent scholars. 

With  many  such  works  of  beneficence  in  the  use  of 
his  large  fortune,  he  was  now  preparing  to  leave  both 
his  estate  and  his  Christian  munificence  of  spirit  to  be 
inherited  by  his  honored  son.  On  the  15th  of  January, 
1804,  "  he  died,  in  a  good  old  age,  full  of  clays,  riches, 
and  honor." 

Thus  lived  and  died  the  "  three  sons  "  of  our  venera- 
ble clergyman,  in  the  very  spirit  of  that  religious 
injunction  in  his  will, "  to  serve  their  generation  accord- 
ing to  ye  will  of  God,  by  doing  good,  as  they  shall 
have  ye  opportunity,  unto  all  men,  and  especially  to 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  251 

y6  household  of  faith ;  as  knowing  yfc  it  is  more  blessed 
to  give  than  to  receive ! " 

Excellent  portraits  of  these  three  distinguished  pat- 
rons of  learning,  and  of  Judge  Phillips,  presented  to 
the  Institution  which  they  had  originated  by  His  Honor 
William  Phillips,  of  whom  we  shall  hereafter  speak,  now 
adorn  its  halls ;  and  at  every  annual  exhibition  of  the 
school,  these  four  are  seen  together,  as  if  in  mid  life 
yet  upon  the  stage,  watching  the  ever. growing  success 
of  the  great  enterprise  in  which  they  so  long  labored. 

After  the  decease  of  Dr.  John  Phillips,  Hon.  William 
Phillips  was  chosen  President  of  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees, until  his  age  and  infirmities  led  him  to  decline  the 
office,  when  Judge  Phillips  was  elected. 

The  Academy  was  now  in  the  full  tide  of  a  most 
gratifying  prosperity:  well  endowed,  though  less  amply 
so  than  the  school  at  Exeter ;  well  instructed,  and  al- 
ready widely  known  as  a  model  institution.  Having 
with  so  much  perseverance  and  success  concentrated 
upon  it  the  good-will  of  its  family  of  patrons,  Judge 
Phillips  sought  also  now  to  enlist  in  its  behalf  the 
patronage  of  the  State.  His  brother-in-law,  Hon.  John 
Foxcroft,  had,  through  his  agency,  made  a  donation  to 
the  Academy  of  some  lands  in  the  District  of  Maine, 
valued  at  several  hundred  dollars.  Judge  Phillips  was 
himself  largely  concerned  in  various  operations  con- 
nected with  the  lands  of  the  Commonwealth  in  this 


252  MEMOIR    OF 

District.  The  State  had  for  a  succession  of  years 
honored  him  with  important  commissions,  pertaining 
to  its  lands,  so  far  as  they  had  become  a  subject  of 
dispute,  or  were  to  be  offered  for  sale.  The  Records 
of  the  General  Court  show,  that,  from  1783  to  the 
year  of  his  decease,  he  was  seldom  free  from  trusts 
of  this  kind.1 

Connecting  with  his  own  Academy  others  of  a 
similar  character  which  had  already  sprung  up,  he 
succeeded  now  in  obtaining,  amid  these  labors,  from 
the  General  Court,  a  grant  of  a  half  township  of  these 
lands  to  each  institution,  estimated  at  the  time  to 
be  worth  nearly  $2,000  ;2  and  the  tract  which  was 
finally  conveyed  to  Phillips  Academy,  was  selected 
under  his  own  eye  ;  but  though  it  was  a  new  proof  of 
his  deep  interest  in  the  school,  this  grant  has  never 
realized  his  expectations,  and  has  been  of  compara- 
tively little  advantage  to  the  Institution.  During  his 
lifetime,  no  income  was  received  from  this  source ; 
but  the  school  was  sustained,  and  year  after  year  en- 
larged, from  the  income  of  its  various  endowments 
by  his  relatives,  and  by  means  of  its  regular  charges 
for  tuition,  while  its  advantages  were  made  free  to 
indigent  young  men  from  all  sections  of  the  country, 
by  means  of  its  beneficiary  funds. 

Before  it  had  been  a  score  of  years  in  operation,  it 
had  attained  so  wide  a  celebrity  that  not  only  the  sons 

1  See  Appendix  K.  a  Ibid.  L. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  253 

of  gentlemen  from  the  various  New  England  States, 
but  from  the  South,  and  from  the  West  Indies,  and 
from  France  and  other  foreign  countries,  resorted  to  it ; 
and  Judge  Phillips,  who  was  now  President  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  was  so  identified  in  the  public  rnind 
with  the  Institution,  that  his  personal  correspondence 
and  intercourse  with  the  young  men  and  with  their 
parents  became  very  extensive.  A  few  years  after 
Washington's  visit  to  Andover,  and  while  he  was  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  at  his  suggestion  his  nephew, 
William  Augustus  Washington,  sent  two  sons  to  the 
Academy,  and  Charles  Lee  sent  the  two  sons  of  his 
deceased  brother,  Richard  Henry  Lee  ;  after  a  brief 
interval,  three  more  of  the  Washington  family  joined 
the  school.  When  Colonel  Washington  and  lady  came 
on  with  their  sons,  Judge  Phillips  wrote  to  Madam 
Phillips :  - 

"  I  hope  you  'will  be  able  to  make  their  time  agreeable ;  I 
feel  powerfully  inclined  to  show  every  token  of  respect  that 
is  proper  to  the  representative  of  that  eminent  instrument  of 
political  salvation  to  his  country.  It  is  not  improbable  that 
the  General  means  to  adopt  one  or  both  of  the  youths  bear- 
ing his  name,  if  worthy  of  it." 

Occasionally  remittances  were  made  through  the  Presi- 
dent, who  had  interested  himself  so  much  in  the  ar- 
rangement. Among  the  letters  now  in  our  hands,  is 
one  from  his  pen,  which  we  here  insert,  with  the  reply 

22 


254  MEMOIR    OF 

of  Judge  Phillips,  a  memorandum  of  which  is  entered 
upon  the  same  sheet :  — 

"  MOUNT  VERNON,  28th  Sept.,  1796. 
«  SIR. 

The  enclosed  letter,  from  my  Nephew  to  me,  accompany- 
ing one  from  him  to  you  (which  have  been  to  Philadelphia 
and  back),  must  be  my  apology  for  giving  you  the  trouble 
of  reading  this  address. 

I  shall  only  add,  that  if  there  are  arrearages  yet  due  to 
you,  and  you  will  let  me  know  the  amount,  it  shall  be  re- 
mitted from  Philadelphia ;  at  which  place  I  expect  to  be  by 
the  first  of  November. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  Most  Obedfc  Hble  Servfc, 

"  G°  WASHINGTON. 
The  Honble  SAM'L  PHILLIPS,  Esqr." 

"Oct'r  28  '96. 
"SIR, 

I  have  been  honored  with  your  favor  of  the  28th  Ultimo, 
enclosing  a  letter  from  Col°  Washington,  in  which  were 
received  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and  take  the  liberty 
to  enclose  an  answer. 

You  are  pleased  to  authorize  rne  to  give  you  notice  of 
any  arrears  on  account  of  the  sons  of  your  Nephew ;  it  gives 
me  pleasure  to  say,  there  are  none  of  any  consequence  now 

due  to  me. 

With  the  highest  respect, 
I  am  Sir 

Your  Most  Obed* 

And  very  hble  Servfc, 

SAMUEL  PHILLIPS. 
To  the  President  of  the  United  States." 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  255 

The  young  Washingtons  were  in  the  family  of  Rev. 
Mr.  French ;  the  Lees  were  with  Judge  Phillips,  for 
whom,  with  Madam  Phillips  and  their  son,  they  had 
the  warmest  regard.  The  elder  of  these  brothers  died 
soon  after  entering  College  at  Princeton,  and  in  the 
last  lines  he  ever  wrote,  after  speaking  of  his  wishes 
respecting  several  other  friends,  he  said :  —  "  My  friend- 
ship for  the  Phillips  family  cannot  be  buried  with  me 
in  the  grave,  but  it  will  live  with  me  in  the  immortal 
life.  Perhaps  some  little  article  presented  to  each  of 
them,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Phillips  and  their  son,  as  at  my 
request,  would  please  them."  A  copy  of  the  paper 
left  by  him  containing  these  parting  messages,  which 
was  sent  by  his  uncle  with  an  account  of  his  last  hours 
to  Judge  Phillips,  was  carefidly  preserved,  and  bears 
this  touching  indorsement  by  his  hand  —  "pretious!" 
—  so  deeply  was  his  heart  affected  by  such  expressions 
of  attachment.  In  a  letter  of  Judge  Phillips  to  Mr. 
Lee,  written  after  he  had  received  this  paper,  there  is 
a  passage  which  shows  with  what  spirit  in  this  case, 
as  in  many  others,  he  interested  himself  in  the  pupils 
of  the  Academy :  — 

"  The  observation,"  he  says,  "  expressed  in  your  introduc- 
tory letter,  that  c  one  of  your  principal  inducements  in  send- 
ing him  and  his  brother  so  far  from  Virginia  and  their 
friends,  was  that  they  might  be  brought  up  in  the  purest 
principles  of  religion,  morality,  and  virtue,'  accorded  so  per- 
fectly with  my  ideas  of  the  essential  part  of  education,  that 


256  MEMOIR     OF 

I  took  more  pleasure  in  urging  remarks  tending  to  that 
object;  the  unremitted  and  serious  attention  with  which 
these  remarks  were  received  by  our  departed  friend,  height- 
ened the  pleasure  of  the  duty ;  the  satisfaction  you  are 
pleased  to  express  in  the  conduct  of  his  education  is  highly 
grateful ;  and  the  cordial  expressions  of  attachment  to  our 
family  in  his  last  letter  to  you,  will  be  among  the  sources 
of  our  most  pleasing  reflections  through  the  remainder  of 
life." 

Had  Judge  Phillips  been  the  acting  Principal  of  the 
Academy,  and  the  daily  teacher  of  the  pupils,  instead 
of  a  Trustee  merely,  he  could  not  have  used  language 
more  expressive  of  his  personal  activity  in  guiding 
those  who  were  thus  sent  to  enjoy  its  advantages. 

And  this  accords  perfectly  with  his  whole  habit  to- 
ward the  students.  He  had  not  taken  more  interest 
in  originating  the  Academy  than  he  now  continued  to 
take  in  its  daily  work.  The  instructors  were  selected 
by  him  with-  the  greatest  care,  and  were  stimulated  in 
all  their  duties  by  his  aid.  The  pupils  revered  and 
loved  him,  remembering  well,  for  long  years  after- 
wards, his  kindly  looks  and  paternal  counsels,  and  re- 
peating incidents,  without  number,  illustrative  of  his 
intercourse  with  them.  It  was  emphatically  his  Acade- 
my, the  favorite  work  of  his  hand,  fashioned  and  ani- 
mated in  the  highest  possible  degree  by  his  spirit; 
and  as  such  it  stands  his  noblest  monument. 

More  than  seven  hundred  pupils  were  admitted  to  its 


s^sM^^V^ 
•gS^NeJj? 


£4LI?Ol 


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i 

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.     I 

, 

id  of  II 
I -Goven  (ii    Phi 

e  IB- 

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would  not,  her* 
lonor,  William  Philli] 
of  the  impulse  v 

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. 

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proiiu 

, 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  257 

course  of  study,  during  his  own  lifetime,  among  whom 
he  could  number  many  who  were  called  to  the  highest 
stations.  And  it  is  but  continuing  the  sketch  of  his 
enterprise,  to  add  here,  that  the  Academy,  thus  orig- 
inated and  prosperous  under  his  eye,  has  moved  on- 
ward from  strength  to  strength  in  its  career,  for  a  half 
century  since  he  passed  away.  Largely  indebted  to 
the  later  as  well  as  the  earlier  patronage  of  the  Phillips 
family,  and  especially  to  the  liberal  hand  of  His  Honor 
the  late  Lieutenant-Governor,  William  Phillips,  and 
attracting  to  itself  a  full  attendance  of  pupils,  the  In- 
stitution has  been  singularly  prosperous. 

We  cannot,  as  we  surely  would  not,  here  pass  over 
the  name  of  His  Honor,  William  Phillips,  without  a 
brief  notice  of  the  impulse  which  his  liberality  im- 
parted to  the  school.  The  only  surviving  son  of  his 
honored  father,  he  succeeded  not  only  to  his  large  for- 
tune, but  to  his  virtues.  Of  frail  constitution  and  deli- 
cate health  in  early  life,  he  rose  above  the  consequent 
defects  of  his  education,  by  the  force  of  a  sagacious, 
well-balanced  mind,  animated  by  steady  religious  im- 
pulses. He  was  the  senior  of  his  distinguished  cousin 
at  Andover  by  about  two  years ;  and  between  the  two 
there  were  some  strong  points  of  resemblance,  as  well 
as  an  affectionate  intimacy ;  both  were  intensely  patri- 
otic, and  made  strenuous  efforts  to  promote  the  Revo- 
lution ;  both  were  specially  distinguished  for  soundness 

22* 


258  MEMOIK    OF 

of  judgment.  Governor  Brooks,  with  whom,  as  well  as 
with  Governor  Strong,  His  Honor  William  Phillips 
was  long  associated,  is  said  to  have  remarked,  "  that  in 
all  their  consultations  and  deliberations,  he  had  iievei 
known  him  to  give  an  erroneous  opinion : "  both  were 
mild  and  winning  in  manners,  while  yet  of  inflexible 
firmness  in  their  principles ;  both  were  eminently  sin- 
cere and  unpretending,  showing  everywhere  their  real 
character  with  no  glosses ;  both  were  eager  patrons  of 
sound  learning,  and  of  a  most  devout,  religious  spirit. 
In  1773,  as  the  Revolutionary  contest  was  thickening, 
while  one  was  entering  upon  his  long  career  of  civil 
service  at  Andover,  the  other  set  sail,  from  Boston,  for 
England.  After  an  extended  tour  through  Great  Brii> 
ain,  and  various  countries  on  the  continent,  he  returned, 
in  1774,  in  one  of  the  tea  ships,  and  immediately  began 
to  take  part  in  the  councils  of  the  patriots. 

At  a  later  period,  he  was  called  to  a  large  experience 
in  legislative  life :  for  many  years  a  representative 
from  Boston,  he  was  finally  chosen  Lieutenant-Governor 
of  the  State  in  twelve  successive  elections,  during 
which  period  he  was  also  repeatedly  one  of  the  Presi- 
dential electors. 

But,  conspicuous  as  he  was  as  a  civilian,  both  for  his 
offices  and  for  the  qualities  by  which  he  honored  every 
office  more  than  it  could  honor  him,  he  was  yet  more 
eminent  for  his  leading  participation  in  all  the  great 
philanthropic  and  religious  enterprises  of  his  day.  It 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  259 

was  not  his  money  only,  nor  chiefly,  which  he  freely 
bestowed  upon  such  enterprises.  They  were  aided  as 
constantly  by  his  far-seeing  counsels,  and  by  the  whole 
weight  of  his  personal  influence. 

At  Andover,  his  very  name  was  a  tower  of  strength. 
Early  elected  a  Trustee,  and  entering  with  all  his  heart 
into  the  views  of  his  cousin,  which  he  had  known  mi- 
nutely from  the  first,  he  began  also  early  to  be  a  most 
liberal  donor  to  the  Institution ;  and  the  long  catalogue 
of  his  gifts  is  a  most  animating  record.  For  a  period 
of  nearly  fifteen  years  he  gave  five  hundred  dollars 
annually  to  aid  needy  students  in  the  Academy.  Prior 
to  this,  he  had  made  repeated  donations  in  lands  and 
books,  valued  at  more  than  a  thousand  dollars;  and 
while  making  such  large  charitable  contributions  to  aid 
the  young  men,  he  gave  also  five  thousand  dollars 
toward  rebuilding  the  Academy,  after  it  had  been 
burnt,  and  then,  in  his  will,  left  the  Institution  a  be- 
quest of  fifteen  thousand  dollars. 

Nor  were  his  liberalities  at  Andover  confined  to  the 
Academy.  The  Theological  Seminary,  which  the  widow 
and  son  of  his  revered  cousin,  with  others,  had  founded 
under  the  same  Board  of  Trustees  with  the  Academy, 
he  also  largely  aided  in  his  lifetime,  and  at  his  death 
left  it  a  legacy  of  ten  thousand  dollars.  The  whole 
amount  of  his  gifts  to  these  institutions,  not  including 
the  invaluable  portraits  already  mentioned,  was  more 
than  forty  thousand  dollars.  With  the  same  liberal 


200  MEMOIR     OF 

hand  he  dispensed  his  wealth,  through  a  long  life,  in 
aid  of  every  good  cause. 

"  I  confess,"  said  Dr.  Wisner  at  his  funeral,  after  glancing 
at  his  career,  "  that  when  I  consider  all  these  circumstances, 
I  look  with  wonder  —  and  I  hope  with  gratitude  to  God, 
whose  grace  made  him  what  he  was  —  at  the  variety  and 
the  amount  of  his  charities.  They  have  been  for  a  series  of 
years  from  eight  to  eleven  thousand  dollars  a  year.  And  by 
his  will  he  has  contributed  to  various  benevolent  objects,  most 
of  them  religious  charities,  sixty-two  thousand  dollars."  * 

At  his  death,  which  did  not  take  place  until  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century  after  Judge  Phillips's  decease,  in  May, 
1827,  when  he  was  in  his  seventy-eighth  year,  there 
were,  in  every  section  of  the  Commonwealth,  expres- 
sions of  the  most  hearty  sorrow  and  of  the  highest 
eulogy.2  An  engraving  of  his  portrait,  which  hangs  in 
the  Library  of  the  Seminary,  is  here  presented. 

1  Dr.  Wisner's  Funeral  Discourse,  p.  31,  32. 

2  It  is  due  to  the  memory  of  the  four,  whose  donations  have  created 
and  sustained  so  important  an  institution  as  Phillips  Academy,  to 
state  here  summarily,  the  amount  of  their  several  gifts.     These  are 
as  follows,  in  round  numbers  :  — 

Hon.  Samuel  Phillips,  of  North  Andover $0,000 

Hon.  John  Phillips,  LL.  D.,  of  Exeter 31,000 

Hon.  William  Phillips,  of  Boston 6,000 

His  Honor,  William  Phillips,  of  Boston,  to  the  Academy      .     .     28,000 
"  "  "  "        to  the  Seminary     .     .     14,000 

$85,000 

Others  of  the  family  name  have  also  made  donations  of  consid- 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  261 

The  plan  of  Judge  Phillips  originally  contemplated 
the  possible,  and  indeed  probable,  outgrowth  of  a  Col- 
lege, or  of  some  equivalent  institution,  from  the  Acad- 
emy ;  and  the  Constitution  was  drafted  with  this  point 
distinctly  in  view ;  but  especially  with  reference  to  an 
institution,  or  to  a  development  of  the  classical  Acad- 
emy itself,  which  would  provide  special  facilities  for 
the  study  of  Divinity. 

One  memorable  conversation  especially  which  he 
once  held  with  his  clerk,  Mr.  Moses  Abbott,  as  they 
sat  under  the  old  oak,  now  standing  just  in  the  rear 
of  the  Seminary  Chapel,  is  still  narrated  by  his  sur- 
viving friend  ;  in  which  Judge  Phillips  pointed  out  the 
very  site  of  the  present  Seminary  buildings,  as  the 
probable  location  of  the  future  College.  Treatises  upon 
Christianity  had  long  been  regular  text-books  in  the 
Academy.  Arrangements  had  also  been  made  for  the 
separate  instruction  of  a  class  of  students  in  Divinity, 
so  that,  what  was  not  realized  until  after  his  death, 
the  distinct  endowment  and  opening  of  a  Theological 
Department,  was  at  last  most  naturally  inaugurated  by 
his  widow  and  son,  as  if  moved  yet  by  an  impulse  from 
his  own  living  spirit. 

erable  amount,  to  one  or  the  other  of  these  Institutions,  besides  the 
large  endowment  of  Madam  Phillips  and  her  son,  in  founding  the 
Theological  Seminary,  which,  of  itself,  was  nearly  $20,000 ;  so  that 
a  sum  total  of  more  than  $100,000  has  been  concentrated  here  by  this 
family ;  and  its  wide  spread  results  are  carrying  their  name  to  the 
remotest  lands,  as  benefactors  of  the  race. 


262  MEMOIR     OF 

But  while  in  its  growth,  after  itself  receiving  about 
twenty  students  in  Theology,  the  Academy  threw  out 
its  vital  and  vigorous  offshoot  in  that  direction,  its 
genius  was  so  elastic,  and  its  foundation  so  broad,  that 
the  germ  of  yet  another  department  in  a  different 
direction  was  beginning  to  appear ;  and,  in  process  of 
time,  after  the  legacy  of  his  Honor  William  Phillips, 
who  regarded  the  project  with  especial  favor,  an 
English  Department,  designed  as  a  Teachers  Seminary 
or  Normal  High  School,  was  organized.  The  intention 
at  first  was  to  keep  this  Department  distinct  from  the 
Classical  School,  as  had  been  done  with  the  Theological 
Department,  and  a  commodious  building  was  erected 
for  its  use.  But  with  no  endowments,  and  with  an 
inadequate  support  from  its  term-bills,  although  largely 
attended,  experience  wrought  a  .change  in  the  plan, 
and  the  Academy  has  for  many  years  embraced  an 
extended  course  of  both  Classical  and  English  study 
under  one  regime,  while  it  continues  to  give  especial 
prominence,  as  it  did  when  first  opened,  to  instruction 
"  in  the  learned  languages." 

Such  have  been  the  natural,  and  almost  necessary, 
unfoldings  of  the  comprehensive  plan  of  the  Founders 
of  the  Institution.  Calling  it  at  first  a  School  merely, 
and  not  aspiring  ever  to  term  it  more  than  an  Academy, 
they  virtually  originated  little  less  than  a  University 
of  the  highest  type.  Not  attempting  too  much  at 
once,  their  sagacious  scheme  has  led  especially  to  a 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  263 

course  of  Classical  and  Theological  instruction,  nowhere 
surpassed  now,  if  equalled,  in  thoroughness  or  in 
scholarly  symmetry,  or  in  the  earnest  religious  life 
which  electrifies  it  all. 

In  the  Classical  Department  a  careful  register  of  all 
who  have  ever  been  admitted  has  been  kept,  and  is 
now  a  volume  of  very  great  interest.  Nearly  four 
thousand  pupils  have,  for  a  longer  or  shorter  period, 
been  thus  connected  with  the  Institution,  among  whom 
are  many  of  the  most  eminent  names  of  the  past 
half  century ;  while  not  less  than  twenty-seven  'hun- 
dred have  been  members  of  the  English  Department, 
and  from  the  Theological  Department,  besides  the 
many  who  have  pursued  their  studies  here  for  a  part 
of  their  professional  course,  nearly  thirteen  hundred 
have  regularly  graduated.1  The  spirit  and  drift  of 
the  Academy,  which  after  a  quarter  of  a  century 
from  its  origin  gave  birth  to  the  first  Theological 
Seminary  in  the  world,  must  be  ascribed  to  Judge 
Phillips,  more  than  to  any  other  person,  however  far 
from  even  his  best  thoughts  so  broad  a  scheme  as 
was  ultimately  adopted  may  have  been,  and  what- 
ever other  issues  or  interests  may  have  arisen  to 
modify  it. 

As  we  thus  contemplate  his  life-long  efforts  for  the 
Academy,  so  persistently  prosecuted,  so  nobly  seconded 

1  See  Appendix,  M. 


264  MEMOIR    OF    JUDGE    PHILLIPS. 

by  his  family,  so  successful  in  all  their  immediate  aims, 
revealing  at  last  in  this  new  form  the  strong  under- 
current of  religious  power,  which  had  visibly  ani- 
mated them  from  the  very  beginning,  we  come  natu- 
rally to  notice  his  character  and  life  in  yet  one  more 
essential  aspect. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

HIS    RELIGIOUS    SPIRIT    AND    EFFORTS. 

To  his  careful  religious  training,  with  its  consequent 
early  religious  tendencies,  repeated  reference  has  been 
incidentally  made  already.  He  was  constitutionally 
susceptible,  in  a  remarkable  degree,  to  such  culture, 
whether  it  sought  to  mould  his  conscience  or  his  feel- 
ings. None  would  accept  with  more  reverence  and 
sympathy  the  heritage  of  ancestral  piety  which  disr 
tinguished  the  family  with  the  race  of  Puritans  to 
which  they  belonged.  What  these  old  New  England 
Fathers  thought  and  did  was  always  a  stirring  consid- 
eration with  him,  to  which  he  often  alluded  when 
stimulating  himself  or  others.  He  admired  their  type 
of  character.  It  was  one  of  his  most  cherished  a-ims, 
not  only  to  be  himself  of  the  same  spirit  with  them, 
but  to  do  whatever  was  in  his  power  toward  perpetu- 
ating such  a  spirit  in  society. 

We  have  never  studied  the  character  of  one,  among 
the  living  or  the  dead,  in  whom  the  various  forces  of 
religion  seemed  more  symmetrically  blended.  He  was 
religious  in  study,  in  trade,  in  neighborly  kindness,  in 

(265) 


266  MEMOIR    OF 

domestic  life,  in  politics,  in  every  civil  office,  and  in  his 
zeal  to  promote  learning,  as  well  as  in  public  worship  or 
public  charities.  It  was  emphatically  a  religious  insti- 
tution, which  he  was  intent  upon  establishing ;  a  relig- 
ious vitality  which  he  sought  to  breathe  into  all  educa- 
tion within  its  atmosphere.  Such  we  are  sure  must  have 
been  the  inference  of  the  reader  from  his  various 
papers  as  they  have  been  here  cited :  and  we  have  no- 
where found  a  line  in  all  his  manuscripts,  or  heard  a 
word  from  any  who  remember  him,  that  does  not 
tend  to  confirm  this  impression. 

In  the  place  of  his  residence  —  from  his  birth  to  his 
death  —  he  has  left  a  name  for  genial,  consistent,  win- 
ning, zealous  piety,  more  fresh  than  the  memory  of  his 
highest  honors.  As  the  result  in  part,  doubtless,  of 
that  discipline  of  sorrow  through  which  the  family 
passed  in  his  childhood,  and  partly  of  the  reiterated 
bereavements  afterwards  which  he  so  keenly  felt,  to- 
gether with  his  own  frequent  illness,  there  was  a  sub- 
dued tenderness  of  sensibility  in  his  religion,  which 
added  to  its  impressive-ness. 

It  was  with  such  a  charm  about  him,  that  he  drew 
near  to  the  students,  as  in  the  case  of  young  Lee,  and 
opened  to  them  the  treasures  of  Heavenly  wisdom, 
seeking,  in  the  spirit  of  a  pastor,  or  a  father,  to  guide 
their  feet  into  the  way  of  peace.  With  the  same  ever 
wakeful  tact,  he  often  made  his  correspondence  almost 
entirely  religious  in  its  tenor  ;  seizing  with  avidity 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  267 

upon  occasions  of  every  kind,  which  would  help  him 
to  pour  out  his  full  heart  with  the  best  effect. 

We  have  stated  that  during  his  confinement  at  Med- 
ford  with  his  fractured  leg,  his  cousin,  Miss  Sally  Phil- 
lips, was  much  with  him.  It  appears  from  the  following 
letters,  that  on  their  return  to  Andover  together  the 
subject  of  her  uniting  with  the  church  was  suggested 
to  her,  and  the  time  of  her  taking  this  step  was  soon 
decided.  We  give  now  his  letters  to  her  on  this  occa- 
sion, as  worthy  of  special  note,  not  only  for  their  deli- 
cate aptness,  as  addressed  to  her,  but  for  the  justness 
with  which  they  at  the  same  time  commend  this  duty 
to  the  young  generally. 

Soon  after  reaching  his  home  he  writes,  — 


,  May  4,  1794. 

"  MY  DEAR  Miss  PHILLIPS,  —  You  have  this  day  made  a 
public  declaration  of  your  belief  in,  and  regard  for,  the  relig- 
ion of  the  blessed  Jesus.  Will  you  permit  me  in  the  sincer- 
ity of  my  heart  to  congratulate  you  on  this  joyful  event,  — 
an  event  which  has,  beyond  all  doubt,  caused  much  joy  in 
heaven  as  well  as  on  earth.  Openly  and  explicitly  to  declare 
on  the  Lord's  side,  and  in  the  face  of  the  world  to  sub- 
scribe with  your  own  hand  to  his  covenant,  cannot  fail  of 
pleasing  that  Almighty  Being,  who  hath  declared,  '  before  all 
the  people  I  will  be  glorified  :  '  —  for  the  same  reason,  it 
must  give  joy  to  all  good  beings  who  come  to  the  knowledge 
of  it  ;  —  and  among  the  inhabitants  of  this  globe,  those  who 
feel  most  interested  in  your  happiness,  will  feel  most  gratified 


268  MEMOIR     OF 

and  delighted ;  —  for,  by  the  same  act  which  does  honor  to 
religion,  and  the  glorious  Founder  of  it,  you  take  the  most 
effectual  measure  to  promote  and  secure  your  own  peace  and 
comfort,  usefulness  and  happiness  in  this  world,  and  bliss 
everlasting. 

"  Such  a  transaction,  duly  performed  (as  I  doubt  not  yours 
has  been)  by  persons  of  any  age  or  class,  tends  directly  to 
subserve  both  the  important  purposes  above  expressed ;  —  but 
when  it  is  performed,  in  the  early  part  of  life,  by  a  person  in 
the  midst  of  gay  and  pleasing  scenes,  whom  friends  caress 
and  the  world  flatters,  surrounded  with  objects  and  under  cir- 
cumstances calculated  to  rivet  the  affections  to  the  present 
state,  and  obscure  the  realities  of  futurity ;  —  when  this  per- 
son is  of  the  tender  sex,  (who  are  sometimes  restrained  by 
mistaken  delicacy  or  unjustifiable  diffidence,)  possessing  an 
uncommon  share  of  sensibility ;  —  then  is  signal  honor  and 
benefit  derived  to  the  best  of  all  causes,  and  peculiar  joy 
afforded  to  all  its  friends  and  advocates ;  at  the  same  time,  a 
foundation  is  laid  for  a  rich  and  increasing  harvest  of  bless- 
ings to  the  happy  possessor. 

"  These  blessings  are  great  and  numerous  ;  —  the  satisfac- 
tion derived  from  a  reflection  on  the  consequences  above 
hinted  at  is  not  inconsiderable  ;  an  early  public  dedication  is 
expressive  of  a  consideration  and  thoughtfulness  which  does 
credit  to  any  character,  and  of  that  filial  love  and  reverence 
which  are  the  best  affections  of  the  heart ;  it  affords  a  longer 
opportunity  of  usefulness  to  mankind,  and  by  example,  that 
most  powerful  of  all  persuasives,  may  allure  many  to  similar 
reflections  and  resolutions. 

"  May  such  be  the  happy  consequence  of  this  day's  trans- 
action, and,  when  your  days  of  usefulness  on  earth  shall  be 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  269 

finished,  may  your  spirit  be  frequently  delighted,  in  the  re- 
gions of  immortality,  with  the  glorious  tidings  of  the  increas- 
ing happy  fruits  of  this  example  among  the  children  of  men ! 
With  these  wishes  (in  which  Mrs.  Phillips  very  cordially 
joins  me)  for  the  present  I  will  bid  you  adieu,  after  begging 
you  to  believe  that  I  am 

"  Truly  your  affectionate  friend, 

.  "  SAMUEL  PHILLIPS." 

"  ASTDOVER,  May  14,  1794. 

"  MY  DEAR  Miss  PHILLIPS,  —  Your  very  obliging  favor  of 
the  10th  instant,  afforded  me  a  degree  of  pleasure  that  will 
not  suffer  me  to  rest  easy  in  delaying  to  return  you  my 
hearty  thanks  for  it.  ...  After  perusing  your  favor  repeat- 
edly, and  with  increasing  satisfaction,  it  was  difficult  to  de- 
termine which  part  was  the  most  pleasing,  unless  it  was  that 
in  which  you  say,  '  upon  a  late  compliance  with  duty  I  have 
the  most  reason  lever  had  to  congratulate  myself;'  —  and 
surely  the  declaration  was  founded  in  the  highest  reason ;  for 
to  comply  with  the  charge  —  the  dying  charge  —  of  a  Father 
and  a  friend,  who  claims  (and  most  justly  too)  an  infinite 
superiority  to  every  other  friend,  must  afford  to  the  heart  of 
pious  sensibility,  a  joy  which  "beggars  the  power  of  language 
to  describe ;  —  and  how  is  this  joy  enhanced,  when,  by  the 
same  act  which  expresses  our  obedience  and  fidelity  to  our 
Divine  Master,  we  receive  a  most  affecting  token  of  his  love 
and  friendship  for  us  ?  for,  (according  to  the  author  you  en- 
tertained me  with  at  Medford,)  <  when  my  Lord  at  the  table 
1  says,  Take  and  eat,  this  is  my  body,  this  is  infinitely  more  and 
better  than  if  a  rich  man  should  say  to  me,  take  my  estate  ; 
or  than  if  an  emperor  should  say  to  me,  take  my  crown  and 

23* 


270  MEMOIR    OF 

diadem;  or  than  if  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  and  the 
glory  of  them  were  offered  me.' 

"  The  gratitude  you  express  to  me  on  this  occasion  is  too 
generous  ;  my  reward  was  abundant,  and  of  the  highest  pos- 
sible value,  in  the  welcome  reception  you  gave  to  my  propo- 
sition and  the  consequences  which  have  followed. 

"  Will  you  allow  me  to  suggest  a  caution,  which  I  have  con- 
stant need  to  have  more  forcibly  impressed  on  my  own  mind, 
—  that  we  do  not  ascribe  to  the  instrument  that  honor  and  praise 
which  are  due  to  the  power  which  actuates  it.  Let  us  not  in  the 
present  case,  overlook  that  overruling  Providence,  which  gave 
so  favorable  an  opportunity  for  entering  on  such  a  subject,  in 
our  journey  to  Andover  —  which  overcame  an  embarrass- 
ment on  my  mind  that  prevented  my  introducing  it  till  near 
the  close  of  the  journey,  although  a  desire  of  doing  it  had 
existed  for  months  before,  and  particularly  at  the  commence- 
ment of  that  journey —  and  which  inclined  you  to  give  such 
a  cordial  entertainment  to  the  proposal.  Neither  should  we 
overlook  the  same  universal  Ruler,  who  guided  the  opera- 
tions of  your  mind  in  contemplating  the  subject,  who  in- 
fluenced it  to  the  happy  result,  and  smiled  on  the  first  attempt 
for  executing  your  purpose.  Indeed,  every  encouraging  and 
animating  consideration  which  preceded  and  attended  the 
weighty  transaction,  and  every  happifying  reflection  which 
followed  it,  are  so  many  claims  on  our  fervent  gratitude  to 
that  all-pervading  Spirit,  which  inspired,  sustains,  and  regu- 
lates the  vital  principle.  .  .  . 

"  I  am  yours,  with  great  esteem  and  affection, 

"S.  PHILLIPS." 

In  all  the  family  correspondence,  it  is  most  instruc- 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  271 

tive  to  notice  with  what  spontaneous  ease  his  pen 
turned  often  from  the  business  or  news  of  which  he 
was  writing,  to  some  high  religious  view  or  use  of  his 
topic,  or  was  diverted  to  some  kindred  strain  of  ethical 
discussion.  Very  many  of  his  letters  to  Madam  Phil- 
lips contain  passages  with  regard  to  the  religious  in- 
struction of  their  children,  the  spirit  of  which  she  was 
transfusing  into  their  hearts,  while  to  the  children 
themselves,  early  and  late,  he  was  often  writing  upon 
the  same  great  themes.  A  most  touching  letter  to  his 
younger  son,  on  the  occasion  of  his  fifth  birth-day, 
which  we  feel  restrained  from  citing,  shows  at  what  a 
tender  age  that  young  and  pure  spirit  was  preparing 
for  its  early  exit  from  earth. 

To  the  elder  son  he  frequently  gave  invaluable  relig- 
ious hints,  as  he  wrote  upon  other  topics;  and  on  many 
a  special  occasion,  religion,  in  some  of  its  most  impor- 
tant aspects  and  claims,  was  the  only  theme  of  his 
communications.  Through  the  entire  period  of  his 
minority,  and  even  after  his  connection  with  the 
church  and  his  marriage,  the  son  was  thus  with  the 
tenderest  affection  kept  near  to  the  father's  heart. 
The  following  letters,  in  addition  to  those  which  we  have 
cited  heretofore,  of  the  same  general  tenor,  may  serve 
as  an  illustration  of  the  spirit  of  this  correspondence ; 
the  facts  which  some  of  them  incidentally  disclose  in 
his  personal  and  family  history,  will  not  be  regarded 
as  detracting  from  their  excellence,  but  rather  as  en- 
hancing it. 


272 


MEMOIR    OF 


"  ANDOVER,  November  24,  Sabbath  evening,  1793. 

"  MY  DEAR  SON,  —  Your  letter  of  the  12th  and  15th  instant 
has  been  received,  and  the  contents  gave  me  pleasure.  .  .  . 
We  have  this  morning  been  much  affected  by  the  informa- 
tion of  the  sudden  and  unexpected  death  of  Deacon  Abbott; 
.  .  .  thus  we  are  deprived,  in  a  very  affecting  manner,  of  one 
of  the  best  men  the  town  afforded :  —  what  a  shock  to  his 
poor  distressed  wife  and  beloved  children,  to  the  neighbor- 
hood, to  the  church,  to  the  town  and  the  public ;  —  when  a 
man  of  exemplary  piety,  integrity,  prudence,  virtue,  and  gen- 
eral goodness  is  taken  from  among  us,  how  universally  is 
the  loss  felt  and  lamented.  In  many  instances  the  rich,  the 
mighty,  and  the  honorable  leave  the  stage,  while  few  regret 
the  loss  of  them,  and  some  are  glad  to  succeed  them ;  but 
wljen  a  good  man  departs,  we  read  sadness  in  every  counte- 
nance, and  the  serious  who  survive  are  prompted  to  exclaim, 
'  Help,  Lord,  for  the  godly  man  ceaseth,  and  the  faithful  fail 
from  among  the  children  of  men/  What  a  call  to  survivors, 
to  double  their  diligence  in  their  Master's  service,  when  we 
see  the  uncertainty  of  the  event  of  an  hour ! 

"  Such  a  family  as  his  was  rarely  to  be  met  with; — not 
only  the  heads  of  it  exemplary  for  the  Christian  character, 
but  all  the  children  treading  in  their  steps;  at  every  com- 
munion, how  pleasing  to  behold  parents  and  children  all 
approaching  the  altar  of  the  Lord,  and  with  one  heart  and 
one  voice  commemorating  that  wonderful  love  of  the  glori- 
ous Saviour  which  astonishes  angels !  Is  it  not  strange  that 
these  instances  are  so  rare?  Does  the  blame  lie  with  the 
parents  or  the  children  ?  probably  in  most  cases  with  both ! 

"  I  take  it  to  myself,  that  I  have  omitted  to  urge  this  great 
duty  upon  the  child  to  whom  I  am  now  writing.  Let  me, 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  273 

then,  without  losing  another  hour,  seriously  ask,  my  dear 
son,  do  you  not  believe  your  lost  and  undone  condition  by 
nature,  your  misery  without  a  Saviour,  that  the  Son  of  God 
has  undertaken  the  mighty  task,  that  he  condescended  to 
take  our  nature,  that  he  obeyed  the  whole  law,  that  he  suf- 
fered and  died  to  purchase  your  ransom  from  endless  misery  ? 
Do  you  believe  the  necessity  of  repentance,  love,  and  new 
obedience,  in  order  to  be  qualified  for  enjoying  the  benefits 
of  Christ's  purchase  ?  and  is  it  not  your  daily  prayer  and 
labor  to  obtain  these  gifts  and  graces  ?  If  not,  what  will  all 
your  other  cares,  studies,  and  labors  amount  to  ?  How  in- 
finitely light  and  trifling  will  every  attainment,  without  an 
interest  in  the  blessed  Redeemer,  appear  at  the  hour  of  death, 
that  honest  hour,  which  speaks  a  language  that  must  be 
heard  by  all  the  children  of  Adam,  a  language  which  is  fre- 
quently sounding  in  our  ears  ! 

"  That  you  and  I  and  all  of  us  may  be  prepared  for  our 
own  turn,  which  will  soon  arrive,  is  the  fervent  prayer  of 
your  affectionate  parent,  SAMUEL  PHILLIPS." 

"  ANDOVER,  December  17,  1793. 

"  MY  DEAR  SON,  —  I  received  your  letter  of  a  late  date  and 
was  much  pleased  with  it.  ...  In  this  hour  of  danger, 
remember  that  "  soft  words  turn  away  anger ; "  and  whatever 
provocation  you  may  receive,  do  rtt  lose  the  perfect  command 
of  yourself.  .  .  .  You  will  not  be  safer  in  any  situation, 
than  in  your  chamber  or  study,  with  your  door  fastened,  and 
your  mind  intent  on  your  book,  unless  when  you  are  on  your 
knees  imploring  your  infinitely  wise  and  good  Father  in 
heaven,  to  direct,  preserve,  strengthen,  and  defend  you:  —  what 
a  blessed  privilege  to  be  admitted  to  solicit  such  high  favor  of 


274  MEMOIR    OF 

the  King:  of  Kings,  with  hopes  of  success,  if  the  supplicant  have 
the  true  spirit  of  prayer ;  and  when  nearest  the  throne  of 
grace,  forget  not  to  return  humble,  fervent  thanks,  that  you 
have  been  preserved  from  the  vices  which  have  plunged  oth- 
ers into  so  much  misery,  and  also  to  pray  for  their  repentance 
and  reformation.  .  .  .  We  think  much  of  you  and  pray  for 
you,  and  hope  these  trials  will  issue  in  your  final  advantage. 
"  I  am  your  affectionate,  anxious  Parent, 

"  S.  PHILLIPS." 

The  occasion  and  the  effect  of  such  letters  as  the 
preceding,  are  indicated  by  the  following  brief  note 
from  an  intimate  friend  of  the  family,  alluding  to 
scenes  of  which  we  have  spoken  heretofore,  as  will  be 
remembered,  in  connection  with  another  portion  of  the 
family  correspondence :  — 

"  CAMBRIDGE,  January  1,  1794. 

"  DEAR  SIR,  —  After  fervently  wishing  a  happy  new  year 
to  you  and  yours,  I  take  the  liberty  to  thank  you  for  your 
friendly  advice.  .  .  . 

"  You  have  doubtless  heard  of  the  uncommon  scenes,  both 
of  irregularity  and  of  public  censure,  which  have  distin- 
guished the  last  term  at  College.  The  immediate  govern- 
ment has  exercised  the  greatest  industry,  patience,  and  impar- 
tiality in  their  inquiries,  deliberations,  and  decisions  upon 
these  painful  subjects ;  and  we  flatter  ourselves  that  our  con- 
duct will  be  sanctioned  by  the  approving  voice  of  the  sober 
public,  and  particularly  of  the  Board  of  Overseers. 

"  I  congratulate  you  on  the  manly,  honorable,  and  virtuous 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  275 

part  which  your  son,  as  well  as  many  of  his  fellow-students, 
has  acted,  amidst  the  late  scenes  of  temptation  and  trial. 
"  With  sentiments  of  great  esteem,  I  am,  Sir, 

"  Your  affectionate  friend  and  servant, 

"D.  TAPPAN. 
"• Honorable  Mr.  PHILLIPS." 

Amid  all  his  anxieties  respecting  the  religious  state 
of  his  son,  Judge  Phillips  was  cheered  by  many  hopes ; 
and,  as  in  the  case  of  Miss  Sally  Phillips,  endeavored 
to  lead  him  to  a  full  and  public  consecration  of  him- 
self to  God,  as  we  see  in  the  ensuing  earnest  appeal:  — 

"BOSTON,  January  26,  1794. 

"  MY  DEAR  CHILD,  —  I  have  been  this  day  celebrating  the 
stupendous  love  of  the  Divine  Saviour,  at  the  feast  of  the 
supper ;  and  my  thoughts  were  exercised,  in  no  inconsiderable 
degree,  for  the  dear  youth  to  whom  I  stand  in  one  of  the 
nearest  relations,  and  whose  spiritual  as  well  as  temporal 
happiness  I  am  under  the  most  solemn  obligations  to  pro- 
mote by  all  proper  means  in  my  power ;  —  I  then  felt,  and 
still  feel,  a  solicitude  to  know  whether  any,  and  if  any,  what 
effect  has  been  produced  by  some  remarks  lately  made  in 
writing,  on  the  subject  of  taking  upon  yourself  the  bonds  of 
the  covenant ;  to  these  remarks  you  replied,  that  the  subject 
of  them  was  under  consideration;  —  do  they  still  remain  so, 
or  are  they  dismissed  for  others  of  trifling  moment,  as  all 
temporal  concerns  must  be  when  compared  with  those  which 
respect  our  future  existence?  If  not  dismissed,  how  does 
the  subject  appear  to  you  ?  Does  it  not  appear  reasonable 
to  obey  the  command  of  our  Sovereign  —  of  a  Sovereign 


276  MEMOIR    OF 

who  has  given  himself  up  to  the  sufferings  of  death  to  save 
us  from  everlasting  misery  ?  —  especially  to  give  the  readiest 
obedience  to  his  dying  charge  ?  You  feel  yourself  under 
obligations  to  obey  the  commands  of  your  earthly  parents, 
and  a  concern  when  any  instance  of  disobedience  comes  to 
our  knowledge  ;  and  it  is  right  you  should ;  but  any  human 
authority  is  of  little  force,  compared  with  that  which  exists 
with  that  Supreme  Being,  who  gave  us  existence,  is  contin- 
ually upholding  us,  and  withheld  not  his  own  most  precious 
life  to  save  us. 

"  Do  you  believe,  my  dear  child,  that  Christ  died  to  save 
sinners  ?  that  endless  misery  must  have  been  your  and  my 
portion,  inevitably,  had  it  not  been  for  this  infinitely  costly 
sacrifice  ?  Do  you  believe  that  this  sacrifice,  costly  as  it  was, 
will  be  of  no  avail,  unless  we  become  qualified  to  receive  the 
blessings  which  the  Saviour  died  to  purchase,  by  repentance 
for  all  our  sins,  and  that  faith  in  the  Redeemer  and  his  Gos- 
pel which  shall  have  a  commanding  influence  over  the  heart 
and  the  life,  the  temper  and  conversation,  the  powers  of  the 
body  and  affections  of  the  soul,  and,  in  short,  over  the 
whole  man  ?  This  repentance  and  this  faith  are  God's  gift ; 
but  he  must  be  sought  to,  and  inquired  of,  to  grant  it ; 
if  it  is  not  worth  praying  for,  and  striving  after,  it  is  not 
worth  giving.  If  these  graces  of  repentance  and  faith  are 
not  worth  praying  for,  then  heaven  and  the  happiness  of  it 
are  not  worth  praying  for.  You  have  every  encouragement 
to  beg  the  bestowment  of  these  blessings,  for  your  Heavenly 
Father  is  perfectly  ready  and  willing  to  bestow  them,  if  you 
ask  aright;  more  ready  than  any  earthly  parent  can  be  to 
bestow  the  good  things  of  this  life  on  his  dear  offspring.  If 
you  do  not  possess  them,  and  do  n't  even  desire  them,  how 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  277 

awfully  hazardous  your  state !  What  must  be  your  position, 
if  called  out  of  time,  in  such  a  situation !  A  serious  consid- 
eration of  this  question  is  of  infinite  moment;  no  subject  of 
consideration  is  of  any  moment,  compared  with  this.  There- 
fore let  me  entreat  and  conjure  you,  by  all  the  affection  and 
authority  of  a  father,  to  dwell  upon  the  thought,  till  you  find 
the  stream  of  genuine  contrition  and  pious  affections  to  flow 
plentifully. 

"  If  you  do  possess  these  graces,  you  have  the  highest  rea- 
son to  give  praise,  humble,  fervent,  unceasing  praise  to  that 
infinitely  merciful  God,  who  has  redeemed  you  with  the  blood 
of  his  own  Son,  and  hath  given  his  blessed  Spirit  to  apply 
his  redemption. 

"  How  can  you  do  enough  to  show  forth  your  gratitude  to 
such  a  Saviour  ?  Among  other  tokens  of  this  gratitude,  is 
it  not  highly  becoming  to  commemorate  the  last  tragical 
scene  of  his  sufferings,  with  his  disciples,  in  the  sacrament  of 
the  supper  ?  —  especially,  considering  this  duty  was  given  in 
command  by  himself,  among  the  last  orders  which  he  deliv- 
ered while  on  earth. 

"  I  was  charmed  to-day  with  the  sight  of  a  young  family 
of  Mr.  Salsbury's,  all  joining  with  their  dear  parents  in  cele- 
brating this  feast.  How  happy,  thought  I,  if  our  dear  chil- 
dren would  enable  their  anxious  parents  to  say  to  the  Al- 
mighty, HERE  ARE  WE  AND  THE  CHILDREN  THOU  HAST  GIVEN  US  ! 

If  you  have  difficulties  on  your  mind  open  them  to  me  freely, 
and  I  shall  delight  to  assist;  and  rejoice  that  you  have  a 
mighty  Counsellor,  who  invites  you  to  his  throne  for  advice, 
at  all  times :  improve  this  exalted  privilege  diligently,  and  do 
not  forget  to  return  some  of  the  prayers  which  are  frequently 
poured  out  fo?  you  by  your  anxious  parent,  S.  PHILLIPS." 

24 


MEMOIR    OF 

The  occasion  of  the  two  following  letters  is  indicated 
in  the  letters  themselves.  The  first,  we  regret  to  say, 
is  incomplete ;  the  manuscript  in  our  hands  being 
evidently  the  original  outline  of  the  communication, 
without  the  final  revision  and  concluding  paragraphs. 
It  is  in  these  words:  — 

"  ANDOVER,  October  17,  1797. 
"  'Finis  origine  pendet.' 

"  MY  DEAR  SON,  —  To-morrow  will  complete  twenty-one 
years  of  your  life.  As,  at  that  period,  youth  are  generally 
considered  as  released  from  that  parental  authority  which 
they  are  the  subjects  of  before,  it  may  not  be  improper  to 
offer  at  this  moment  some  hints,  and  give  you  some  advice 
dictated  by  the  feelings  of  a  parent,  whose  affection  gives 
rise  to  much  anxiety  for  your  welfare. 

"  You  will  consider  them  with  that  attention  which  is  due 
to  the  last  counsel  you  will  ever  receive  while  (in  a  legal 
sense)  in  a  state  of  minority,  from  one  standing  in  the  class 
of  relations  which  is  nearer  to  you  than  any  other  on 
earth. 

"  As  this  may  be  considered  one  of  the  most  memorable 
eras  of  your  life,  I  would  recommend  to  you  to  set  apart 
Wednesday,  the  18th  of  October,  1797,  for  the  purpose  of 
serious  recollection,  meditation,  humiliation,  thanksgiving, 
and  prayer;  and  for  adopting  those  resolutions  which  that 
occasion  will  dictate  as  proper. 

"  Although  the  state  of  your  business  may  render  it  in- 
convenient to  comply  with  this  advice,  yet  I  can  hardly 
realize  it  to  be  such  as  would  prevent  you  from  absenting 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  279 

yourself  from  the  store  on  occasions  far  less  important  than 
this. 

"  It  has  been  the  practice  of  the  best  men  that  ever  lived, 
to  set  apart  every  anniversary  of  their  birth,  as  well  as  other 
days  in  the  year,  for  purposes  similar  to  those  I  have  men- 
tioned ;  and  they  have  given  full  testimony  to  the  advantage 
they  have  experienced  from  the  practice. 

"  After  humbly  presenting  yourself  before  the  heart-search- 
ing God,  and  earnestly  imploring  his  direction  and  benediction 
in  the  duties  before  you ;  it  will  be  highly  proper  on  that  day 
to  take  a  careful  and  minute  review  of  the  past  years  of  your 
life  ;  and,  in  doing  this,  it  will  be  useful  to  inquire,  how  you 
have  discharged  the  various  duties  which  have  resulted  from 
the  various  relations  you  have  sustained  to  God  as  your  Crea- 
tor, Preserver,  Redeemer,  constant  and  unwearied  Benefactor  ; 
to  your  parents  and  other  dear  relatives  ;  to  your  Instructors 
and  governors  ;  to  your  superiors,  equals,  and  inferiors  ;  what 
duties  in  these  several  relations  have  been  wholly  omitted 
or  carelessly  performed;  and  what  obligations  have  been 
violated ;  what  improvement  you  have  made  of  time,  espe- 
cially of  holy  time;  of  the  various  advantages  you  have 
enjoyed  for  improving  your  mind  and  storing  up  useful 
knowledge ;  for  correcting  the  disorders  of  your  temper,  and 
any  vicious  and  irregular  propensities;  how  far  you  have 
been  influenced  by  the  counsel  and  instruction  that  have 
been  given  to  you  from  the  Sacred  Volume  by  your  parents, 
by  godly  ministers,  and  by  friends ;  what  improvement  you 
have  made  of  your  various  opportunities  for  getting  and 
doing  good ;  how  you  have  regarded  the  providences  of  God, 
not  only  those  of  a  public  nature,  but  those  which  respect 
the  family  of  which  you  are  a  member,  and  yourself  per- 


280  MEMOIR    OF 

sonally.  If,  on  such  a  review,  you  don't  find  the  humiliation 
I  recommend,  will  there  not  be  reason  to  fear  you  have  not 
been  sufficiently  thorough  in  the  examination? 

"  On  that  day,  it  will  be  proper  to  review  the  distinguished 
mercies  you  have  received,  in  your  preservation  in  life  to  this 
time,  in  the  health  you  have  enjoyed ;  and  may  you  not 
reckon  it  in  the  number  of  your  mercies,  that  your  parents 
have  been  spared  to  watch  over,  to  advise  and  counsel  you, 
through  the  precipitate  years  of  youth,  even  unto  manhood. 

"  You  will  consider,  my  dear  son,  the  circumstances  of 
your  lot  have  been  uncommonly  favorable ;  your  life  thus 
far  has  been  devoted  to  improvement ;  you  have  had  a  suc- 
cession in  general  of  uncommonly  able  and  faithful  Instruc- 
tors from  your  early  childhood ;  you  have  had  no  material 
avocations  to  divert  your  attention  from  useful  studies.  Your 
advantages  have  been  great,  and  (except  in  a  father  who 
this  day  laments,  in  tears,  his  numerous  defects  in  duty  to- 
ward you,  both  in  precept  and  example)  may  I  not  say  they 
have  been  equalled  by  few,  and  surpassed  scarcely  by  any ; 
and  forget  not  the  goodness  of  Heaven  in  preserving  you 
from  gross  immoralities,  amid  the  snares  and  temptations 
that  have  attended  your  youth,  and  the  situations  of  danger 
in  which  you  have  been  placed,  and  which  have  proved  fatal 
to  others.  Restraining  and  rescuing  influences  are  too  little 
thought  of  by  most. 

"  That  you  have  been  disposed,  at  an  early  period,  to  make 
a  public  surrender  of  yourself  to  your  Maker,  and  subscribe 
with  your  hand  to  his  Covenant,  is  a  further  cause  of  thank- 
fulness. As  your  cup  has  overflown  with  mercies,  let  your 
heart  overflow  with  gratitude  to  the  infinite  Source  of  them 
all.  Much  fruit,  then,  may  justly  be  expected  from  you  by 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  281 

God  and  man,  and  your  own  conscience  will  justify  the 
demand. 

"  After  spending  a  suitable  portion  of  time  in  reviewing 
the  past,  and  in  those  exercises  of  mind  which  that  review 
will  suggest,  you  will  judge  whether  it  is  not  a  very  seasona- 
ble duty  to  make  a  renewed,  solemn,  and  unreserved  dedi- 
cation of  yourself,  and  of  all  your  powers  and  faculties,  of 
all  that  you  have  and  are  to  your  Heavenly  Father ;  and  to 
implore  his  direction  and  guidance  in  forming  suitable  reso- 
lutions for  the  time  to  come.  The  17th  chapter  in  Dod- 
dridge's  Rise  and  Progress,  will  be  of  great  use  to  you  in 
such  a  work. 

"  You  will  remember,  my  son,  that  all  your  pursuits  must 
be  regulated  by  a  supreme  regard  to  the  Divine  honor.  Let 
the  fear  and  love  of  Jehovah  possess  your  heart,  dictate 
every  purpose,  and  influence  every  action.  This  fear,  we 
are  taught  by  inspiration,  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom ;  with- 
out this  foundation  all  your  superstructure  will  be  as  wood, 
hay,  and  stubble.  Possessing  this  filial  fear,  you  will  serious- 
ly resolve  to  begin  and  close  every  day  of  your  life  with 
the  most  solemn  acts  of  devotion.  If  the  blessings  of  Provi- 
dence and  grace  are  not  worth  asking,  they  are  not  worth 
bestowing ;  and  what  day  of  your  life  is  there  in  which  you 
do  not  need  them. 

"  You  will,  doubtless,  judge  it  reasonable  to  make  it  part 
of  your  plan,  to  read  some  portion  of  Scripture  at  those 
stated  periods ;  and,  that  you  may  read  them  to  more  ad- 
vantage, I  now  present  you  with  Henry's  Exposition  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testament,  and  Doddridge's  Exposition  of 
the  latter.  The  first  of  these  books  was  estimated  by  a  late 
pious  deceased  friend  and  relative,  (from  whose  prayers  you 

24* 


282  MEMOIR    OF 

and  I  have  doubtless  reaped  unknown  benefits,)  to  be  of 
more  value  than  gold,  yea,  than  much  fine  gold.  In  these 
volumes,  if  read  in  a  proper  temper  of  mind,  will  be  found 
inestimable  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge.  Let  them 
be  the  man  of  your  counsel  at  all  times.  The  proverbs  of 
Solomon  can't  be  too  often  consulted;  they  will  form  the 
richest  furniture  with  which  your  mind  can  be  stored,  for 
every  situation,  condition,  and  relation  of  life.  They  con- 
tain, as  Mr.  Henry  observes,  in  a  little  compass,  a  com- 
plete body  of  Divine  ethics,  politics,  and  oeconomics:  and 
whensoever  reading  the  sacred  Scriptures,  we  ought  to 
consider  ourselves  as  in  the  more  immediate  presence  of  the 
great  God ;  and  if  we  do  n't  pay  a  serious  regard  to  him, 
when  speaking  to  us  in  his  word,  how  can  we  expect  him  to 
regard  our  petitions  to  him  ?  These  books,  my  son,  are  the 
best  estate  I  can  give  you. 

"  If  the  want  of  time  be  offered  as  an  objection  to  the  exe- 
cution of  such  a  plan,  may  it  not  be  asked  whether  we  can 
justify  the  denial  of  a  small  portion  of  our  time  to  the  ser- 
vice of  him  who  gives  us  all  the  time  we  enjoy,  and  who  can 
with  the  utmost  ease  cut  short  or  protract  our  days,  accord- 
ing to  his  own  sovereign  pleasure  ?  and  what  benefits  can 
result  from  any  business,  that  will  counterbalance  the  advan- 
tages to  be  hoped  for  from  the  appropriation  of  a  small  por- 
tion of  our  time  to  such  a  purpose  ? 

"  If  company  at  any  time  interfere,  what  company  will 
make  amends  for  the  loss  of  a  humble,  solemn  interview  with 
the  Sovereign  of  the  universe,  who  exercises  infinite  conde- 
scension in  inviting  us  into  his  presence  ?  By  husbanding 
our  time  properly,  we  shall  not  find  it  difficult  to  gain  a 
small  portion  of  it,  at  the  beginning  and  close  of  each  day, 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  283 

for  the  discharge  of  this  important  duty:  and  here  let  me 
recommend  a  careful  perusal  of  the  19th  chapter  in  Dr. 
Doddridge's  'Rise  and  Progress,'  containing  directions  how 
we  should  be  in  the  fear  of  God  all  the  day  long,  with  a 
serious  resolution  to  come  as  near  to  the  plan  there  proposed 
as  possible. 

"  But  of  all  your  time,  be  persuaded,  my  son,  to  entertain 
the  firmest  resolution,  that  you  will  pay  the  strictest  regard 
to  the  holy  Sabbath.  The  injunctions  of  Scripture  are  often 
repeated,  and  very  solemn,  on  this  head  ;  and  your  improve- 
ment in  the  most  valuable  of  all  knowledge,  your  progress 
in  virtue  and  piety,  and  your  usefulness  to  others,  will  depend 
much,  very  much  indeed,  on  your  discharge  of  this  duty. 
Oft  account  of  your  vicinity  to  the  metropolis,  you  will  be  a 
witness  to  a  melancholy  disregard  of  holy  time.  On  this 
account,  your  guard  ought  to  be  much  increased,  to  prevent 
your  respect  for  that  day  being  insensibly  diminished,  and  in 
order  that  your  example  may  contribute  to  stem  the  torrent 
of  impiety,  which  is  breaking  in  upon  us  like  a  flood,  and 
threatens  the  judgments  of  Heaven  upon  our  country. 

"  To  regulate  your  dealings  with  others,  you  can't  propose 
to  yourself  a  better  rule  than  that  of  our  Saviour,  in  Matthew 
vii.  12,  — '  all  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should 
do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them ; '  you  will  often  call  to 
mind  that  comprehensive  injunction  in  Micah  vi.  8,  —  'to  do 
justly,  love  mercy,  and  walk  humbly  with  thy  God,'  —  and 
what  more  '  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee  ?  ' 

"  Let  me  earnestly  recommend  the  cultivation  of  a  meek 
and  humble  frame  of  mind.  The  more  attention  will  be 
necessary  to  acquire  and  preserve  these  virtues,  if  a  state  of 
worldly  prosperity  should  attend  you ;  because  the  natural 


284  MEMOIR    OF 

tendency  of  such  a  state  is  to  inflate  the  mind  with  pride. 
We  ought  to  remember  that  a  state  of  prosperity  very  often 
proves  unfriendly  to  virtue  ;  and  the  Divine  caution,  '  let  him 
that  thinketh  he  standeth,  take  heed  lest  he  fall,'  should  be 
ever  in  mind.  What  higher  inducement  can  be  given  us  to 
cultivate  meekness,  than  to  be  assured  that  'the  meek  he 
(the  Lord)  will  guide  in  judgment ;  the  meek  he  will  teach 
his  way,'  —  and  that  *  the  ornament  of  a  meek  and  quiet 
spirit  is,  in  the  sight  of  God,  of  great -price.'  The  highest 
reason  have  we  then  to  labor,  that  we  may  be  clothed  with 
humility.  .  .  ." 

"MY  EVER  HONORED  AND  BELOVED  FATHER,  —  The  eighteenth 
of  October,  1797,  has  introduced  a  set  of  ideas  which  I  never 
before  felt.  Your  letter,  which  I  esteem  the  most  valuable 
fortune  you  can  give  me,  while  it  impresses  on  my  mind  an 
idea  of  the  importance  of  the  era  which  I  have  now  reached, 
and  with  a  firm  belief  that  my  future  happiness  and  useful- 
ness will  depend  on  rny  setting  out,  inspires  me  with  increased 
affection  and  respect  for  the  hand  that  penned  and  the  heart 
that  dictated  it.  May  the  precepts  it  contains  be  indelibly 
engraven  on  my  mind !  for  they  only  can  insure  my  present 
and  future  happiness. 

"  My  intention  has  been  to  endeavor  on  this  day  to  express 
my  filial  gratitude  for  the  former  unremitted  care,  tenderness, 
and  anxiety  of  my  parents,  who  are  nearer  and  dearer  to  me 
than  any  other  beings  on  earth ;  but  my  feelings  will  not  per- 
mit me.  The  only  alteration  that  the  day  produces  in  my 
situation  is,  that  it  devolves  on  me  an  increased  responsibility. 
Hitherto  I  have  leaned  on  my  parent's  reputation,  and  have 
in  every  instance  wherein  I  could  know  his  will,  been  guided 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  285 

thereby.  Now  I  only  am  answerable  for  my  every  action, — 
but  shall  ever  feel  the  same  veneration  for  their  opinion  I 
ever  have  done,  and  still  feel  in  a  state  of  minority  as  far  as 
relates  to  them.  This  day  I  have  been  engaged  in  the  man- 
ner which  you  recommended :  I  have  received  Dr.  Dod- 
dridge's  Exposition  of  the  New  Testament,  and  one  volume 
of  Mr.  Henry,  for  which  I  am  thankful,  and  promise  that 
want  of  time  shall  not  be  an  excuse  for  my  neglecting  a  daily 
application  to  them. 

"  I  have  now,  sir,  to  make  one  earnest  request ;  which  is, 
that  you  would  not  consider  me  as  freed  from  your  authority 
until  I  shall  cease  to  be  the  object  of  your  parental  affection, 
—  that  I  may  still  have  those  rules  of  conduct  repeated,  which 
had  so  much  influence  in  helping  me  to  avoid  the  almost 
fatal  temptations  of  a  college  life. 

"  I  will  conclude,  at  present,  by  earnestly  praying,  that  the 
lives,  happiness,  and  usefulness  of  my  earthly  parents,  may 
be  the  peculiar  care  of  my  Father  in  Heaven,  and  that  his 
assisting  grace  may  enable  me  to  follow  through  my  life 
the  precepts  of  their  lips  exemplified  by  their  conduct. 

"  I  am,  with  increasing  respect,  your  dutiful  son, 

"JOHN  PHILLIPS. 

"  The  Honorable  SAMUEL  PHILLIPS." 

"  ANDOVER,  January  1,  1800,  3  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

"  MY  DEAR  SON,  —  On  this  first  morning  of  a  New  Year, 
I  awoke  early ;  and  the  activity  of  my  mind  having  banished 
sleep  from  my  eyes,  I  rose  and  betook  myself  to  such  exer- 
cises as  are  proper  for  the  season. 

"  Influenced  by  the  example  of  those  whose  characters  I 
».evere,  as  well  as  by  a  conviction  of  the  utility  of  the  prac- 


286  MEMOIR    OF 

tice,  I  have  heretofore  aimed  to  appropriate  a  more  than 
usual  share  of  the  first  day  of  the  year,  as  well  as  the  anni- 
versary of  my  birthday,  to  such  exercises  as  were  adapted 
to  qualify  me  better  to  answer  the  end  of  my  creation.  I 
hope  I  have  derived  some  advantage  from  the  practice;  it 
would  doubtless  have  been  greater,  had  not  I  been  too  remiss 
in  performing  the  duty,  and  too  unmindful  afterwards  of  the 
purposes  formed  at  these  seasons. 

"  The  present  period  appears  to  call  for  more  close  atten- 
tion to  every  religious  duty  than  any  we  have  seen  ;  and  one 
object  of  this  letter,  is  to  invite  you  to  join  me  this  day  in 
the  exercises  I  have  mentioned ;  and  though  we  are  not  in 
the  same  house,  or  in  the  same  society,  let  us  kneel  before 
the  same  Throne  to  lament  and  beg  forgiveness  for  our  past 
defects,  neglects,  and  transgressions ;  and  to  implore  Divine 
mercy  for  ourselves  and  each  other,  for  our  families,  for  our 
friends  and  connections,  for  our  mourning  and  threatened 
country,  and  for  a  convulsed  world. 

"  We  shall  find  ample  field  for  a  long  day's  close,  unin- 
terrupted employment ;  and  though  cares  and  business  may 
strive  to  intrude  and  divert  our  attention  from  the  duty  pro- 
posed, let  us  summon  up  a  holy  resolution  to  appropriate 
this  day  to  the  more  immediate  service  of  the  all  glorious 
Being  who  is  Lord  of  all  our  time. 

"  Let  us  begin  with  imploring  the  Divine  presence,  direc- 
tion, and  benediction  on  the  exercises  of  the  day ;  then  read 
some  portion  or  portions  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  that  are 
proper  for  the  occasion;  afterwards  apply  ourselves  solemnly 
to  the  duty  of  serious  meditation  and  reflection,  self-exami- 
nation^ humiliation^  and  prayer.  This  will  be  a  proper  season, 
also,  to  renew  our  dedication  of  ourselves  to  the  special 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  287 

service  of  our  Divine  Master;  and  let  us  not  fail,  in  his 
strength,  to  form  such  resolutions  as  a  review  of  our  past 
lives  suggests  to  be  needful,  such  as  shall  tend  to  make  us 
better  men,  better  husbands,  better  parents,  better  heads  of 
families,  better  members  of  society,  and  better  Christians. 

"  It  will  increase  the  solemnity  and  utility  of  the  work, 
if  we  commit  as  many  of  our  thoughts  as  we  can  to  writing. 
This  will  be  quite  necessary  for  our  resolutions,  that  we  may 
frequently  review  them,  and  see  how  far  we  hare  fulfilled 
them. 

"  An  agreeable  and  profitable  variety  may  be  made  by  read- 
ing some  pertinent  sermons  or  other  tracts ;  the  sermons  of  the 
pious  Mr.  Foxcroft,  on  the  last  and  first  day  of  the  year,  which 
I  put  into  your  hands  yesterday,  I  have  repeatedly  read  with 
much  satisfaction,  and,  hope  with  some  profit.  Doctor  Dod- 
dridge's  Rise  and  Progress  furnishes  more  chapters  than  one 
that  may  be  useful  on  this  occasion.  The  Book  of  Psalms 
abounds  with  matter,  admirably  adapted  to  excite,  direct,  and 
animate  our  devotion.  An  observation  of  the  day  by  fast- 
ing is  recommended  by  the  experience  and  example  of  many 
worthies ;  at  least,  an  abstinence  from  our  usual  quantity 
of  food  and  drink  appears  to  me  will  be  highly  proper  and 
beneficial. 

"  If  you  approve  of  my  proposition,  you  will  probably 
order  a  fire  in  the  most  retired  chamber,  and  give  notice  to 
suitable  persons  in  your  family,  that  your  engagements  to- 
day don't  admit  of  interruption,  unless  upon  some  very 
special  occasion.  And  let  us  engage  in  these  exercises  with 
a  seriousness  and  devotion  becoming  those  who  are  utterly 
uncertain  whether  we  shall  have  leave  to  unite  in  similar 
duties  on  another  New  Year's  day  ever  again  on  earth. 


288  MEMOIR     OF 

"  Wishing  you  and  your  dear  consort  may  enjoy  many 
years  more   useful   and  happy  than  any  that  have  passed, 
with  best  wishes  for  your  mamma  and  beloved  offspring, 
"  I  am  your  affectionate  father,          SAMUEL  PHILLIPS." 

"  ANDOVER,  January  1,  1800. 

"  MY  HONORED  FATHER,  —  I  have  received  your  excellent 
letter  of  this  morning.  It  witnesseth  that  the  virtues  and 
piety  of  the  fathers  have  descended  to  the  offspring ;  and  O 
that  the  example  of  both  might  be  imitated  by  the  children's 
children!  To  this  end  I  will  endeavor  to  pass  this  day  in 
the  manner  recommended  in  your  letter. 

"  May  He  who  giveth  the  increase  so  bless  our  endeavors, 
so  strengthen  us,  and  all  who  this  day  form  virtuous  pur- 
poses, to  perform  them  in  such  a  manner  that  harvests  of 
honor  may  arise  to  himself,  and  our  own  happiness  and 
usefulness  be  increased. 

"  Be  pleased,  Sir,  to  offer  our  duty  to  my  honored  mamma, 
and  accept  the  same  through  your  ever  dutiful  son, 

"  JOHN  PHILLIPS,  JR." 

"  ANDOVER,  January  4,  1801.     Sabbath  Eve. 

"  MY  DEAR  SON,  —  Having  arrived  to  the  first  Sabbath  of 
a  New  Year  and  of  a  new  century,  I  have  been  reviewing 
some  of  the  past  scenes  and  occurrences  of  my  life;  and 
the  review  affords  me  ground  for  deep  humiliation,  as  well 
as  for  admiration,  gratitude,  and  praise. 

"  Among  the  numberless  causes  for  unfeigned  self-abase- 
ment, I  may  enumerate  neglects  of  duty  to  my  Maker,  my 
fellow-creatures,  especially  my  family r,  and  to  myself;  and 
have  great  reason  to  lament,  that  I  have  improved  time  to  no 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  289 

better  purpose,  and  that  I  have  no  better  answered  the  design 
of  my  creation. 

"  Without  being  particular  under  each  class,  I  might  state 
a  long  catalogue  of  family  duties  which  have  not  been  dis- 
charged, as  they  ought  to  have  been ;  and  I  here  record  my 
hearty  regrets,  therefore,  to  you,  my  dear  son,  that  you  may 
take  warning  from  my  errors,  and  lay  a  foundation  for  more 
agreeable  reflections  in  the  future  periods  of  your  life.  To 
this  end,  let  me  urge  you  to  remember  that  the  duties  of 
heads  of  families  are  numerous  and  very  solemn. 

"  Their  duties  to  each  other,  —  to  love,  comfort,  support, 
and  encourage  each  other  in  every  thing  virtuous  and  praise- 
worthy,  as  well  as  to  watch  over,  admonish,  advise,  and  guard 
against  every  thing  unbecoming  the  Christian  profession,  are 
solemn  indeed.  Those  whom  Providence  has  brought  into 
the  tender  relation  of  husband  and  wife,  have  far  greater 
advantages  for  promoting  each  others'  spiritual  as  well  as 
temporal  felicity,  than  any  other  created  beings.  They  ought 
frequently  to  bear  in  mind  that  sooner  or  later  they  must 
part ;  not  unfrequently  they  are  called  to  this  distressing  trial 
much  sooner  than  they  expected,  and  sometimes  suddenly. 
What  anguish  must  fill  the  mind  of  the  survivor,  if  the  re- 
flection should  arise  that  any  thing  has  been  neglected  to 
preserve  or  reclaim  from  error,  or  to  stimulate  and  encourage 
in  duty ! 

"  When  Heaven  bestows  the  blessing  of  children,  new  ob- 
ligations, and  those  of  the  most  serious  nature,  are  brought 
with  them.  To  provide  for  their  comfortable  support  is  not 
the  greatest,  although  this  calls  for  our  industry,  care,  and 
economy,  and  the  necessity  for  these  increases  with  the  in- 
crease of  our  families ;  but  to  use  our  utmost  vigilance  and 

25 


290  MEMOIR    OP 

diligence  to  regulate  their  tempers,  to  instruct  them  in  the 
principles  and  duties  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  duly  to 
impress  them  with  a  sense  of  their  infinite  moment,  is  as 
much  more  important  than  any  thing  which  relates  merely 
to  the  present  life,  as  eternity  is  longer  than  time. 

"  For  the  discharge  of  these  duties,  the  Author  of  our  na- 
ture has  given  to  parents  special  advantages,  —  particularly 
by  impressing  on  the  minds  of  children  that  awe,  reverence, 
and  respect  for  their  parents,  which  they  feel  toward  no  other 
mortal.  Indeed,  the  Creator  seems,  in  some  sort,  to  have 
made  parents  his  substitutes,  to  form,  mould,  and  train  up 
their  offspring  for  glory. 

"  This  remarkable  and  universal  impression  upon  the  minds 
of  children,  and  which  rarely  ceases,  especially  through  the 
years  of  minority,  where  the  precepts,  deportment,  and  exam- 
ple of  parents  are  such  as  to  justify  it,  proves  more  forcibly 
than  a  thousand  arguments  their  obligation  to  improve  this 
influence  for  the  honor  of  its  Author,  and  their  high  account- 
ability for  the  manner  of  their  using  it.  Next  to  our  chil- 
dren, those  of  our  household  claim  our  inspection,  instruction, 
and  example,  to  restrain  or  recover  them  from  the  paths  of 
sin,  and  to  guide  and  establish  them  in  the  ways  of  piety 
and  virtue. 

"  To  discharge  these  duties  to  the  tolerable  satisfaction  of 
our  own  minds,  we  have  need  to  labor,  and  watch,  and  strive, 
and  pray,  not  only  in  private,  but  with  our  families,  without 
ceasing. 

"  Indeed  those  who  neglect  a  regular,  daily,  and  devotional 
acknowledgment  of  the  Supreme  Being,  with  their  families, 
not  only  forfeit  the  Divine  direction,  support,  and  blessing, 
where  they  most  need  it,  but  deprive  themselves  of  the  best 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  291 

argument  to  enforce  any  religious  or  moral  instruction.  May 
I  not  add,  that  those  who  live  in  the  neglect  of  this  duty  ex- 
pose themselves  to  the  charge  of  hypocrisy  in  the  view  of 
their  children  and  domestics,  whenever  they  inculcate  any 
virtuous  instructions  ?  For  may  they  not  with  reason  ask, 
in  their  own  hearts,  if  they  do  not  openly  state  the  question, 
with  what  propriety  do  you  urge  upon  us  duties  under  the 
authority  of  a  Being  whose  authority  you  do  not  ac- 
knowledge ? 

"  Indeed,  those  who  neglect  family  prayer,  seldom  subject 
themselves  to  this  charge,  for  with  this  they  generally  fall 
into  the  neglect  of  most  other  religious  duties  of  the  family. 
And  for  these  neglects,  among  other  sins,  it  is  my  seri- 
ous belief  the  Almighty  has  been,  and  is  now,  holding  the 
rod  of  his  anger  over  us,  and  that  we  shall  feel  the  weight 
of  it,  unless  we  reform. 

"  It  affords  me  unspeakable  satisfaction  to  be  a  witness, 
that  yours  was  not  in  the  dark  catalogue  of  prayerless  fam- 
ilies. Having  begun  well  in  this  respect,  it  is  my  humble, 
fervent  prayer,  that  no  considerations  of  business,  pleasure, 
ease,  or  company,  may  ever  tempt  you  to  omit  this  daily  ac- 
knowledgment of  our  dependence  on  the  Supreme  Being. 
Business  has  sometimes  so  incumbered  me,  that  I  have  found 
it  difficult  to  command  time  for  the  performance  of  the  duty ; 
but  let  us  carefully  weigh  the  importance  of  that  business 
which  will  justify  our  neglecting  the  best  interests  of  our 
own  souls,  and  the  souls  of  our  children  and  domestics,  and 
risking  their  everlasting  perdition. 

"  Order  in  our  arrangements,  so  essential  for  every  other 
purpose,  is  particularly  so  to  prevent  disappointment  or  em- 
barrassment here.  Until  the  close  of  life,  or  very  near  it,  my 


292  MEMOIR    OF 

honored  parents  devoted  their  first  attention,  after  the  family 
had  risen,  to  this  duty ;  and  always  rose  at  an  early  hour 
when  they  were  well.  But  if  no  opportunity  offered  before, 
the  family  were  generally  collected  together  immediately  after 
breakfast,  and  it  is  easier  to  retain  than  to  collect  them  after 
they  are  dispersed.  It  is,  however,  far  better  to  perform  the 
duty  with  a  small  portion  of  the  family,  when  more  cannot 
be  obtained,  than  to  omit  it.  If  people  are  waiting  on  busi- 
ness, they  will  think  it  as  reasonable  to  allow  a  little  time  to 
pay  your  acknowledgments  to  your  Maker,  as  for  refreshing 
your  nature.  If  they  do  not,  it  is  no  matter  how  little  con- 
cern you  have  with  such  characters.  If  the  duty  or  the  re- 
freshment must  be  omitted,  is  it  not  far  safest  to  deny  our- 
selves, at  least  curtail,  the  latter  ?  Sometimes  persons  in 
waiting  have  been  invited  to  join  in  this  devotion,  and  have 
been  glad  of  the  opportunity ;  and  whether  they  join  or  not, 
who  can  tell  what  blessed  effects  may  result  from  the  ex- 
ample ! 

"  The  presence  of  visitors,  particularly  those  of  respecta- 
bility in  the  view  of  the  world,  and  especially  if  they  were 
disposed  to  think  lightly  of  the  duty,  has  sometimes,  in  the 
earlier  part  of  my  life,  put  my  fortitude  to  the  trial ;  —  but 
that  awful  denunciation  of  our  Saviour  in  the  38th  verse  of 
the  8th  chapter  of  Mark,  *  whosoever  shall  be  ashamed  of 
me  and  of  my  words  in  this  adulterous  and  sinful  generation, 
of  him  also  shall  the  Son  of  Man  be  ashamed  when  he  com- 
eth  in  the  glory  of  his  Father  with  the  holy  angels,'  has 
caused  me  to  shudder  at  the  thought  of  being  restrained  by 
the  fear  of  man. 

"  The  venerable  ancestor  from  whom  our  family  proceeded, 
the  Reverend  George  Phillips,  (who  arrived  in  Charlestown 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  293 

in  the  year  1630,  and  afterwards  settled  and  died  in  the  min- 
istry in  the  town  of  Watertown,)  was  eminent  for  piety,  and 
has  been  handsomely  spoken  of  for  his  literature.  It  is  writ- 
ten of  him,  that  he  commonly  read  the  Bible  through  six 
times  in  a  year,  and  through  four  generations  from  him  to  my 
father,  and  including  him,  I  trust  that  a  good  portion  of  the 
spirit  of  their  progenitor  descended.  I  can  fully  testify  that 
the  two  last,  namely,  my  father  and  -grandfather,  with  their 
consorts,  were  remarkably  constant  in  their  devotions,  both 
of  the  family  and  closet ;  and  my  mother  informed  me  that 
she  never  knew  my  father  to  omit  family  prayer,  when  he 
was  well  and  at  home,  but  once  from  the  time  he  began  to 
keep  house,  although  he  was  for  many  years  much  engaged 
in  business  both  public  and  private. 

"  Who  can  tell  how  many  blessings  the  prayers  of  our 
pious  ancestors  have  procured  for  their  descendants !  Let  us, 
my  dear  son,  be  equally  faithful  even  unto  death,  to  our 
God,  to  ourselves,  and  to  those  who  shall  be  born  after  us. 
Greatly  aggravated  will  be  our  condemnation,  if  we  should 
degenerate  with  such  examples  before  us.  Should  we  ever 
be  left  to  such  a  woful  defection,  (which  God  forbid ! )  what 
reason  will  our  posterity  have  to  upbraid  us  therefor ! 

"  December  5,  1801. 

"  The  foregoing  was  written  at  the  time  of  its  date,  but 
want  of  health  and  unforeseen  events  prevented  my  finishing 
the  letter,  or  even  copying  what  was  written.  Fearing  longer 
to  delay  communicating  the  thoughts  which  were  penned 
upon  a  subject  which  has  excited  many  painful  reflections  on 
my  pillow,  and  at  other  times,  I  have  asked  your  honored 
mother  to  finish  copying  what  I  had  begun. 

25* 


294  MEMOIR    OF 

"  When  I  began  the  copy,  I  left  a  margin,  with  a  view,  if 
I  should  communicate  my  thoughts  on  other  subjects,  that 
you  might  easily  connect  the  letters,  if  you  judged  them 
worth  preserving ;  but  as  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  I  shall 
ever  be  able  to  write  you  again  on  any  subject  of  moment, 
you  will  pay  such  regard  to  this  as  the  importance  of  the 
subject  demands. 

t{  With  most  anxious  solicitude  for  the  happiness  of  your- 
self, your  beloved  spouse,  and  dear  offspring,  both  here  and 
hereafter,  I  am  Your  affectionate  parent, 

"  SAMUEL  PHILLIPS." 

The  spirit  of  Christian  solicitude  and  fidelity  which 
thus,  to  the  last,  poured  out  its  full  tide  around  his 
son,  as  it  did  in  other  forms  about  the  daily  path  of  the 
students  in  the  Academy,  made  Judge  Phillips  also  a 
pillar  in  the  church  of  which  he  was  a  member.  After 
his  removal  to  the  South  Parish,  and  the  transfer  of 
his  connection  from  the  North  to  the  South  Church, 
his  hand  and  heart  were  with  his  pastor  in  every  good 
work.  It  was  through  his  influence  that  Mr.  French 
had  settled  here.  They  were  not  only  class  mates,  but 
congenial  spirits ;  and  it  was  with  a  warm  personal  re- 
gard, as  well  as  Christian  interest,  that  Judge  Phillips 
cooperated  with  him  in  his  ministry. 

For  many  years  he  was  active  in  sustaining  the 
practice  of  reading  to  the  people  at  noon  on  the  Sab- 
bath ;  even  after  his  health  became  greatly  enfeebled, 
be  would  still  tarry  and  read  for  the  hour  from  some 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  295 

favorite  doctrinal  or  devotional  treatise,  and  by  his 
zealous  example  and  his  dying  requests  he  left  such  an 
impression  of  the  importance  of  this  exercise,  that  it 
was  continued  for  a  long  period  afterwards.  So  when 
perplexing  cases  of  discipline  occurred,  or  when  excit- 
ing discussions  in  the  church  or  parish  arose,  though 
never  a  partisan,  but  always  a  peacemaker,  his  course 
was  uniformly  a  rebuke  to  the  lax  and  the  factious. 
The  building  of  the  new  church  soon  after  Mr.  French's 
settlement,  was  so  hotly  contested,  that  it  came  near 
dividing  the  parish ;  yet  with  friends  in  both  parties, 
Judge  rMllips,  little  leisure  as  he  had  for  such  work, 
was  made  chairman  of  the  building  committee,  and 
managed  the  whole  affair  so  dispassionately  as  to  sat- 
isfy all  with  himself,  if  not  with  the  project. 

In  his  day  ministers  were  usually  "  settled  for  life." 
But  with  all  his  conservatism  he  was  an  innovator. 
His  fertile  mind  was  intent  upon  improvements ;  upon 
discussing  principles  and  devising  schemes,  which  would 
break  in  salutarily  upon  the  old  order  of  things. 
Sometimes  his  best  friends,  and  especially  his  father 
and  uncles,  who  were  yet  sure  to  second  his  projects, 
would  hint  that  he  had  a  little  too  much  of  the  spirit 
of  what  we,  in  our  day,  term  "Young  America."  Proverb 
as  he  was  for  caution,  his  foresight  seemed  to  them  a 
species  of  adventurousness.  Thus,  as  early  as  the  year 
1788,  we  find  him  elaborately  discussing  with  his  uncle 
at  Exeter,  the  question  whether  "  the  interests  of  re- 


296  MEMOIR    OF 

ligion  and  the  general  good  might  not  be  advanced,  by 
removing  gentlemen  of  the  clergy  from  places  of  less 
to  those  of  greater  consequence  in  particular  cases." 
The  views  which  he  expresses  are  intermingled  with  so 
many  personal  matters,  that  we  cannot  properly  quote 
them;  but  they  show  with  what  care  he  was  accus- 
tomed, like  a  judge,  to  sum  up  such  cases  of  interest  to 
the  public,  and  state  all  their  important  bearings,  far  in 
advance  of  any  existing  public  sentiment.  When  a 
council  was  convened  in  1792  at  Newbury,  in  the  case 
of  his  friend  Dr.  Tappan's  call  from  that  church  to  the 
Professorship  of  Divinity  at  Cambridge,  he  attended  as 
delegate  with  his  pastor,  and  assisted  in  adjusting  the 
very  delicate  questions  which  were  mooted. 

Among  the  schemes  which  are  most  characteristic  of 
him,  and  which  show  in  the  strongest  light  how  his 
mind  would  link  the  future  with  the  present,  or  his 
growing  country  with  his  native  village,  the  Chartiabk 
Donations  which  were  made  by  him,  in  the  following 
instruments,  stand  conspicuous :  — 

"  Wishing  to  contribute  to  the  promotion  of  Christian 
knowledge  and  piety  a  part  of  the  substance  wherewith  God 
has  blessed  me,  and  out  of  respect  and  affection  to  my  native 
town,  I,  Samuel  Phillips,  of  Andover,  in  the  county  of 
Essex,  and  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  Esquire,  do 
make  the  following  donation,  for  the  purposes  hereinafter 
mentioned,  and  I  do  hereby  direct  my  heirs,  executors,  and 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  297 

administrators,  within  one  year  after  my  decease,  to  pay  to 
the  Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy  in  Andover,  or  their  suc- 
cessors in  office,  the  sum  of  one  thousand  dollars,  in  trust  for 
the  purposes  hereinafter  mentioned ;  to  the  payment  of 
which,  well  and  truly  to  be  made,  I  bind  my  heirs,  executors, 
and  administrators  firmly  by  these  presents : 

"  The  said  sum  to  be  by  the  Trustees  aforesaid  and  their 
successors  always  kept  out  at  interest  upon  good  security, 
and  the  interest  thence  arising  to  be  disposed  of  in  the  man- 
ner following,  namely  :  one  sixth  part  to  be  annually  added 
to  the  principal  sum  for  ever ;  and  the  other  five  sixth  parts  to 
be  laid  out  in  the  purchase  of  the  following  books,  namely :  — 
Dr.  Doddridge's  Address  to  the  Master  of  a  Family  on  Fam- 
ily Religion,  the  Westminster  Assembly's  Shorter  Catechism, 
Dr.  Watts's  Divine  Songs,  Dr.  Hemmenway's  Discourse  to 
Children;  and,  when  the  income  shall  permit,  Dr.  Doddridge's 
Rise  and  Progress  of  Religion  in  the  Soul,  and  other  like 
pious  writings,  to  be  by  the  said  Trustees  and  their  succes- 
sors as  aforesaid,  or  by  a  committee  of  their  appointment, 
distributed  among  the  inhabitants,  who  do  now  or  may 
hereafter  reside  within  the  present  boundaries  of  the  said 
town  of  Andover. 

"  That  is  to  say,  the  aforesaid  Address  to  the  Master  of  a 
Family  on  Family  Religion  to  be  given  to  every  young  man 
who  may  be  about  to  enter  into  the  family  state,  and  to  such 
others  being  already  heads  of  families,  as  to  them  shall  seem 
best ;  and  the  other  books  aforesaid  to  be  annually  distrib- 
uted in  such  manner  as  to  the  said  Trustees  shall  appear 
best  calculated  to  promote  the  pious  design  of  said  Treatises, 
and  the  real  object  of  this  appropriation;  and  in  the  said 
distribution,  it  is  desired,  that  the  friendly  advice  and  assist- 


298  MEMOIR     OF 

ance  of  the  Congregational  Ministers  within  the  limits  afore- 
said may  be  requested. 

"  And  whenever,  in  process  of  time,  the  income  of  said  fund 
shall,  in  the  judgment  of  the  said  Trustees  or  their  successors 
as  aforesaid,  be  more  than  sufficient  to  supply  the  several 
families  within  the  limits  aforesaid,  and  the  said  families  shall 
in  fact  have  been  so  supplied,  the  surplus  of  said  income  to 
be  applied,  at  the  discretion  of  the  said  Trustees  and  their 
successors  as  aforesaid,  to  the  use  of  Phillips  Academy  afore- 
said, and  the  further  promotion  of  the  pious  designs  of  the 
honorable  Founders  thereof. 

"  And  it  is  requested  that  the  aforesaid  sum,  when  paid, 
and  the  interest  thereon  from  time  to  time  received,  together 
with  the  whole  disposition  and  distribution  of  the  same  be 
fairly  entered  in  a  book  of  record,  for  this  purpose  provided, 
and  ever  open  to  the  inspection  and  perusal  of  all  men. 

"  In  witness  of  all  which  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand 
and  seal,  this  twelfth  day  of  December,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  one. 

'CSigne1'n7reeSde'ncedofeliVered'  SAMUEL    PHILLIPS. 

"  FRANCIS  L.  LEE, 

"  AMOS  BLANCHARD,  JR." 


"  Being  desirous,  in  addition  to  the  appropriation  made 
in  an  instrument,  bearing  date  December  twelfth,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  one,  of  con- 
tributing still  farther  of  the  substance  wherewith  God  hath 
olessed  me,  to  the  pious  education  of  young  children  in  my 
native  town ;  and  also  to  a  more  extensive  diffusion  of  relig- 
ious knowledge  and  Evangelical  piety,  I,  Samuel  Phillips  of 


JUDGE     PHILLIPS.  299 

Andover,  in  the  County  of  Essex,  and  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts,  Esquire,  do  now  make  another  donation  for 
the  purposes  hereinafter  mentioned ;  and  I  do  hereby  direct 
my  heirs,  executors,  and  administrators,  within  one  year  after 
my  decease,  to  pay  to  the  Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy  in 
Andover,  or  their  successors  in  office,  the  sum  of  four  thou- 
sand dollars  in  money  or  in  private  notes  of  hand,  with  such 
securities  as  the  said  Trustees  shall  fully  approve,  in  trust  for 
the  purposes  hereinafter  mentioned;  to  the  payment  of 
which,  well  and  truly  to  be  made,  I  bind  my  heirs,  executors, 
and  administrators  firmly  by  these  presents. 

"  The  said  sum  to  be  by  the  Trustees  aforesaid  and  their 
successors  always  kept  out  at  interest  on  good  security,  and 
the  interest  thence  arising  to  be  disposed  of  in  the  manner 
following;  to  wit:  one  sixth  part  to  be  ever  hereafter  an- 
nually added  to  the  principal  for  an  increasing  capital  sum ; 
and  the  other  five  sixth  parts  of  the  interest  of  the  said 
capital  sum  to  be  laid  out  in  the  manner  following ;  that 
is  to  say,  the  five  sixth  parts  of  the  interest  arising  from 
one  fourth  part  of  the  aforesaid  capital  sum,  to  be  appro- 
priated and  applied,  according  to  the  best  judgment  of  the 
said  Trustees,  partly  for  rendering  those  females  who  may 
be  employed  as  instructors  in  the  several  District  Schools, 
within  the  aforesaid  Town  of  Andover,  better  qualified  for 
the  discharge  of  their  delicate  and  important  trust ;  and 
partly  for  extending  the  term  of  their  instruction  in  such 
districts  within  the  said  town,  as,  notwithstanding  the  pro- 
vision therefor  annually  made  by  said  town,  may  stand 
in  most  need  of  additional  aid ;  provided  always,  that  this 
additional  aid  shall  in  no  one  year  be  given  to  more  than 
one  third  part  of  the  whole  number  of  districts  within  the 
present  boundaries  of  the  aforesaid  town  of  Andover ;  and 


300  MEMOIR     OF 

tne  five-sixth  parts  of  the  interest,  arising  from  the  other 
three-fourth  parts  of  the  aforesaid  capital  sum,  to  be  appro- 
priated and  applied  in  the  following  manner,  to  wit :  for 
procuring  the  following  books,  namely,  Bibles,  Testaments, 
and  Psalters ;  the  Westminster  Assembly's  Shorter  Cate- 
chism, Dr.  Watts's  Divine  Songs  for  Children,  Dr.  Hemmen- 
way's  Discourse  to  Children,  Dr.  Doddridge's  Address  to  the 
Master  of  a  Family  on  Family  Religion,  his  Sermons  on  the 
Religious  Education  of  Children,  his  Rise  and  Progress  of 
Religion  in  the  Soul,  Law's  Serious  Call  to  a  Devoted  and 
Holy  Life,  Mason's  Treatise  on  Self-Knowledge,  Henry's 
Discourse  concerning  Meekness,  and  Orton's  Discourse  to 
the  Aged,  together  with  other  like  pious  books,  as  the  income 
of  the  said  capital  sum,  agreeably  to  the  aforementioned  ap- 
portionment may  permit ;  to  be  distributed  by  the  said  Trus- 
tees and  their  successors,  or  by  a  committee  or  agents  of 
their  appointment,  among  poor  and  pious  Christians  not 
belonging  to  the  aforesaid  town,  to  whom  such  writings  may 
be  peculiarly  grateful,  and  also  among  the  inhabitants  of 
new  towns  and  plantations  or  other  places,  where  the  means 
of  religious  knowledge  and  instruction  are  but  sparingly 
enjoyed,  in  such  manner  as  the  Trustees  in  their  wisdom  and 
prudence  may  think  best  calculated  to  promote  the  object 
of  this  donation. 

"  And  to  enable  the  said  Trustees  and  their  successors  in 
office  to  form  the  most  correct  opinion  of  the  proper  object 
of  this  donation,  they  are  respectfully  desired  to  request  the 
necessary  information  of  pious  ministers  of  religion  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  country.  It  is  also  requested,  that  the 
said  sum  first  above  mentioned,  when  paid,  and  the  interest 
thereon  from  time  to  time  received,  together  with  the  whole 
disposition  and  distribution  of  the  same,  be  fairly  entered  in 


JUDGEPHILLIPS. 

a  book  of  record,  for  this  purpose  provided,  and  ever  open  to 
the  inspection  and  perusal  of  all  men. 

"  And  it  is  farther  requested,  that  the  said  Trustees  and 
their  successors,  as  aforesaid,  in  all  future  time,  may  ever 
bear  in  mind  that  the  principal  object  of  this  donation,  is  the 
preservation  of  the  essential  and  distinguishing  doctrines  of 
the  Gospel,  as  professed  by  our  pious  ancestors,  the  first  set- 
tlers of  New  England,  and  of  such  writings  as  are  consenta- 
neous thereto ;  above  all,  it  is  ardently  hoped  and  expected, 
that  in  their  selection  of  books  for  the  distribution  aforesaid, 
all  possible  care  will  be  taken  by  the  Trustees  aforesaid,  to 
guard  against  the  dissemination  of  the  least  particle  of  Infi- 
delity, or  Modern  Philosophy ;  and  also  against  the  disper- 
sion of  such  Theological  treatises,  or  speculations,  as  tend 
to  undermine  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Gospel  plan 
of  salvation,  or  to  reduce  the  Christian  religion  to  a  system 
of  mere  morality ;  without  which  guard  there  will  be  great 
reason  to  fear  that  the  object  of  this  donation  will  be  totally 
frustrated. 

"  Confiding,  however,  in  the  wisdom  and  fidelity  of  the 
said  Trustees,  I  cheerfully  commit  the  execution  of  the  de- 
sign of  this  donation,  as  herein  expressed,  to  their  pious  care, 
and  the  success  of  it  to  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God, 
whose  gracious  smiles  are,  through  the  Mediator,  humbly 
implored  on  it  and  them. 

"  In  witness  of  all  which,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and 
seal,  this  twenty-seventh  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  two. 
"Signedi'nseSnacnedo?eliTered  SAMUEL  PHILLIPS. 

"  SAMUEL  FARRAR, 
"  AMOS  BLANCHARD,  JR." 
26 


302  MEMOIR    OF 

In  these  unpretending  donations,  we  have  the  whole 
system  of  our  modern  tract  societies  and  systems  of 
colportage  for  the  circulation  of  religious  volumes  in 
miniature,  long  before  such  organizations  were  thought 
of.  Nor  has  this  pioneer  enterprise  of  his  sagacious 
mind  done  of  itself  a  trivial  work,  although  in  some 
measure  overshadowed  by  these  associations. 

The  trust  has  been  most  religiously  discharged. 
The  schools  of  Andover  are  every  year  materially 
aided  from  the  income  of  his  fund.  Valuable  books 
have  been  often  distributed  to  every  family  in  the 
town,  at  as  short  intervals  as  the  fund  would  allow,  and 
over  large  sections  of  New  England,  and  of  the  terri- 
tory westward,  the  work  of  scattering  a  great  variety 
of  religious  volumes  has  been  and  continues  to  be 
prosecuted,  sometimes  by  private  agency,  sometimes 
through  the  channel  of  other  religious  associations, 
while  the  fund  itself  has  been  steadily  augmenting  for 
a  similar  mission  in  the  future. 

We  speak  of  these  donations,  so  carefully  directed 
with  a  view  to  the  attainment  of  such  a  variety  of 
objects,  present  or  remote,  as  eminently  characteristic 
of  him.  So  in  fact  was  every  project  in  which  we  find 
him  engaged.  Few  men  would  have  struck  the  golden 
veins  which  he  so  assiduously  worked,  —  fewer  still 
would  have  pursued  his  method,  or  have  breathed  the 
spirit  which  stirred  him,  in  his  chosen  life-work.  For, 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  303 

although  he  was  one  of  the  most  symmetrical  of  men, 
having  nothing  in  excess  and  no  glaring  defect,  his 
individuality  was  remarkable  in  many  particulars ;  and, 
in  all,  it  was  but  the  many-sided  bodying  forth  of  his 
deep  religious  principle. 

We  have  not  been  able  to  discover  a  trait  or  an 
incident  in  his  career,  which  has  not  seemed  to  us  the 
product  of  his  religion  more  than  of  any  thing  else. 
He  was  not  the  great  and  good  man  whom  we  revere 
by  the  force  mainly  of  rare  circumstances,  or  of  genial 
impulses,  or  of  a  mechanical  conformity  with  models 
before  him;  but,  with  the  help  of  God,  "by  patient 
continuance  in  well  doing."  Frail  in  childhood,  amid 
the  graves  of  all  his  brothers  and  sisters,  and  an  invalid 
ever  afterwards,  he  seemed  daily  to  hear  the  admoni- 
tion, "whatsoever  thy  hand  findetli  to  do,  do  it  with  thy 
might : "  and  it  is  in  the  light  of  his  religious  faith,  or 
as  the  forms  in  which  his  religious  principle  clothed  it- 
self, that  we  must  weigh  his  peculiarities. 

Thus,  he  was  intensely  methodical  and  careful.  Men  who 
attempt  to  do  so  much  are  usually  negligent  of  minu- 
tiae ;  but  if  he  had  measured  all  the  ground  he  ever 
went  over,  inch  by  inch,  he  could  not  have  been  more 
particular.  Any  one  of  his  hundreds  of  manuscripts 
now  extant,  taken  up  at  random,  would  be  an  illustra- 
tion of  this  trait.  He  erased,  he  interlined,  he  changed 
the  collocation  of  words  or  paragraphs,  he  put  in  after- 


304  MEMOIR     OF 

thoughts  and  side-thoughts,  in  a  common  family  letter, 
with  as  much  painstaking  as  in  the  draft  of  a  State 
paper.  .In  writing  the  most  familiar  communications  to 
his  son  or  his  wife,  he  would  copy,  or  give  an  apology 
for  not  copying,  as  if  he  would  not  consent  to  do  any 
thing  which  he  was  not  anxious  to  do  well ;  and  the 
same  scrupulous  exactness  was  shown  by  him  through 
the  whole  circuit  of  his  labors,  not  more  as  a  habit, 
than  as  a  purpose. 

So,  too,  he  was  a  prodigy  of  activity :  not  of  haste  and 
bustle,  but  of  rapid,  effective  labor,  in  a  quiet,  unruffled 
spirit.  His  equilibrium  was  one  secret  of  his  momen- 
tum. Serene  and  sunny  in  temperament,  he  sang  with 
the  morning  and  the  evening  birds.  Men  everywhere 
said,  "  he  is  too  busy,"  "  he  will  soon  be  spent,"  but  he 
heard  them  not ;  work  had  a  charm  for  him  —  any 
work,  all  work,  if  so  be  it  were  only  good. 

And,  then,  he  had  a  most  vivid  sense  of  the  value  of 
time :  in  this  respect  he  has  made  a  stronger  impression 
on  us,  than  any  man  of  whom  we  ever  heard.  He  is 
perpetually  recurring  to  the  subject  in  his  letters,  and 
no  less  constantly  acting  as  he  writes.  Take,  for  ex- 
ample, the  following  sentences,  from  a  succession  of 
letters  to  his  son  in  college  :  — 

"  Remember  that  time  is  a  most  invaluable  talent ;  be  cov- 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  305 

etous  of  every  parcel  of  it ; "  —  "  bar  your  doors,  and  secure 
your  eyes,  your  ears,  and  your  heart  against  all  who  would 
rob  you  of  your  treasure ;  I  mean,  your  time ; "  —  "  you  can 
hardly  have  a  better  security  against  vice,  next  to  the  grace 
of  God,  than  uniform  diligence  in  the  pursuit  of  useful 
knowledge ;  be,  therefore,  more  covetous  of  your  hours,  than 
misers  are  of  gold ; "  —  "a  more  favorable  opportunity  for 
improvement  it  is  not  probable  you  will  ever  see — perhaps 
never  another  equally  so  —  and  the  motto  of  our  Academy 
seal  still  applies,  as  you  are  beginning  a  new  year,  new 
studies,  and  in  a  new  situation,  *  Finis  origine  pendet ; ' "  —  "I 
cannot  persuade  myself  to  omit  any  opportunity  of  express- 
ing my  solicitude  that  you  should  participate  of  my  feelings, 
respecting  the  importance  of  time,  especially  of  holy  time; 
next  to  this  the  importance  of  governing  the  passions;"  — 
"let  no  day  be  barren  of  improvement,  but  even  at  those 
seasons  when  close  application  to  study  is  not  expected, 
recollect  the  past  and  make  some  useful  reflections  on  what- 
ever you  see  and  hear,  that  *  you  may  give  for  every  day  some 
good  account  at  last ; '"  —  " realize  more  and  more  the  worth 
of  time  —  of  the  present  moment  in  particular  —  and  make  it 
your  invariable  rule,  not  to  defer  any  duty  till  the  next  hour 
or  moment  which  can  be  performed  in  the  present ;  a  relig- 
ious observation  of  this  rule  will  be  of  immense  advantage  to 
you  through  life;  advice  of  more  importance  is  not  in  the 
power  of  Your  affectionate  parent, 

"  S.  PHILLIPS." 

"  A  religious  observation  of  this  rule : "  —  how  exactly 
does  this  describe  his  own  habit ! 

26* 


306  MEMOIR    OF 

And  as  his  religion  thus  exalted  his  estimate  of 
time,  so  it  made  him,  in  the  words  of  one  of  his  ad- 
mirers, "an  enthusiast  for  virtue?  Whenever  he  touched 
upon  "  virtue  "  in  its  abstract  oneness,  or  upon  "  the 
virtues"  as  a  sisterhood  of  graces,  his  spirit  always 
kindled.  Like  the  "  aliquid  immensum  infmitumque  " 
of  the  old  Eoman  sage,  toward  which  he  was  ever  strug- 
gling, his  ideal  of  virtue  fascinated  him.  She  stood 
before  him,  you  would  think,  in  the  grace  of  a  living, 
personal  beauty  •  she  •  breathed  into  him  the  spirit  of 
her  own  serenity ;  he  sat  at  her  feet  to  learn,  to  ad- 
mire, to  love ;  she  thrilled  him  with  thoughts  of  what 
he  might  be  and  do  as  her  votary.  It  was  not  a  poetic 
fancy  of  virtue,  as  above  God  or  apart  from  God,  but  a 
moral  perception  of  virtue  in  and  from  God,  that  was 
such  a  sunbeam  in  his  soul.  And,  therefore,  with  per- 
sistent devotion,  he  gravitated  toward  her  as  the  needle 
does  to  the  polar  star,  and  the  charm  of  her  presence 
irradiated  his  whole  character  and  life. 

But  even  this  characteristic  was,  if  possible,  less 
prominent  in  him,  than  his  intensely  ethical  vein.  Had  he 
lived  in  the  age  of  Seneca  or  of  Socrates,  he  would 
have  rivalled  them.  But  in  a  better  day  he  was  a 
wiser  moralist.  The  strong  tendency  in  his  nature  to 
that  clear,  concentrated  method  of  reflection  which  is 
apt  to  express  itself  pithily  in  the  form  of  maxims,  was 
so  wedded  to  his  vital  religious  experience,  that,  with 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  307 

their  advantages,  he  would  have  written  as  a  Christian 
philosopher  better  than  Paley  or  Butler;  less  coldly, 
with  less  intellectual  force,  perhaps,  but  not  less  clearly, 
and  far  more  evangelically.  He  cannot  allude  in  a 
letter  to  a  slight  trouble  with  a  domestic,  without  digni- 
fying the  occasion  by  the  exclamation, — "how  depend- 
ent the  highest  upon  the  lower  classes !  and  all  upon 
each  other ! "  If  he  writes  upon  some  matter  of  busi- 
ness, he  must  enforce  discretion  in  it,  by  the  broad  pre- 
cept,—  "let  caution  be  your  motto."  When  he  com- 
mends a  friend  for  kindnesses  to  the  poor,  in  sickness, 
he  makes  it  a  deed  of  heaven  rather  than  earth  by  the 
saying,  —  "  to  pour  the  balm  of  comfort  into  the  bosom 
of  the  afflicted  is  a  Godlike  employment."  As  he  ex- 
pounds to  a  jury  their  duty,  the  law  becomes  suddenly 
personified  and  present,  providing  them  "as  the  eye 
and  the  ear  of  the  public."  When  he  elaborates  the 
constitution  of  an  academy,  its  entire  preamble  is  a 
cluster  of  ethical  utterances,  and  its  delineation  of  a 
teacher's  duties  is  in  the  richest  strain  of  ethical  sug- 
gestion. Everywhere,  amid  the  memorials  which  he 
has  left,  we  encounter  such  gems  of  thought,  and  of 
diction  fitly  clothing  it. 

With  this  ethical  mind  he  united  an  impressive  sedate- 
ness.  Sallies  of  wit  in  others  he  could  appreciate  and 
enjoy  richly.  His  wife  and  his  cousin,  Miss  Sally  Phil- 
lips, were  especially  gladdening  to  him  in  their  exu- 


308  MEMOIR    OF 

berant  vivacity  at  their  fireside ;  but  though  he  was 
habitually  cheerful,  he  could  not  be  drawn  into  the 
mirthful  vein.  It  was  a  study,  as  well  as  an  instinct, 
with  him  to  be  serious,  yet  not  sombre.  "  He  was  the 
gravest  man  I  ever  saw,"  says  one ;  "  he  had  a  most 
benignant  countenance,"  says  another,  "and  such  a  smile!" 
The  gravity  which  so  awed,  and  yet  won  both  old  and 
young,  was  doubtless  the  more  characteristic,  because 
of  his  attenuated  figure  and  the  pallor  of  disease, 
which  at  fifty  gave  him  the  air  of  a  man  of  seventy 
years.  But  it  was,  after  all,  a  mental  more  than  a 
physical  peculiarity.  It  was  the  deep  inner  habit  of 
the  man,  intensely  reflecting,  constructive,  utilitarian, 
and  devout,  —  impressing  its  image  and  superscription 
upon  his  tall  form  and  pale  face. 

And  the  more  noticeably  so,  as  to  this  was  added  a 
profound  humility. 

"  Should  it  not,"  he  writes  to  Madam  Phillips  when  a  new 
chapter  in  their  experience  was  opening,  "  give  us  complete 
satisfaction  and  the  highest  joy,  that  this,  as  well  as  every 
other  change,  is  in  the  hand  of  that  perfect  Being,  to  whom 
the  future  is  as  clear  as  the  present  or  past ;  who  thoroughly 
comprehending  the  whole  chain  of  events  at  one  glance,  can 
with  complete  certainty  order  every  occurrence  as  shall  be  best 
on  the  whole,  and  most  assuredly  will  do  it ;  should  not  we 
consider  ourselves  as  little  atoms,  moving  in  that  part  of  the 
scene  which  he  has  assigned  us ;  and  when  events  appear 
at  hand  which  are  contrary  to  our  wishes,  should  we  not 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  309 

remember  how  entirely  ignorant  we  are  of  what  is  behind 
the  curtain  ?  and  that  when  events  appear  most  against  us, 
they  are  oftentimes  followed  with  consequences  highly  bene- 
ficial." 

Ever  appreciative  of  others'  excellence,  concerning 
himself  he  often  speaks  in  a  desponding  tone :  — 

"  I  feel,  more  than  ever,  my  barrenness  and  insufficiency  to 
discharge  that  mighty  debt  of  gratitude,  which  I  owe  to 
Heaven  and  those  benefactors,  granted  me  by  Divine  bounty, 
at  the  head  of  whom  stands  the  dear  partner  of  my  life,  ever 
ready  to  bless  me  with  her  tender  care  and  kindness."  "  In 
the  early  part  of  life,  I  fondly  pleased  myself  with  the  expecta- 
tion that  I  should  do  some  good  and  communicate  some 
happiness  to  others ;  —  how  strangely  have  I  been  disap- 
pointed !  ...  if  I  have  been  so  useless  in  the  prime  of  life, 
what  can  be  expected  when  declining,  and  that  so  fast !  .  .  . 
when  you  are  nearest  the  throne  of  grace,  be  entreated  earn- 
estly to  supplicate  the  inexhaustible  source  of  all  good,  in 
behalf  of  your  unworthy  partner, — that  his  multiplied  offences 
may  be  forgiven  him,  —  that  he  may  be  enabled  to  discharge 
all  duty  far  better,  in  time  to  come,  than  in  the  days  that  are 
past ;  and  next  to  those  he  owes  his  Maker,  those  which  are 
due  to  his  nearest  friend  and  their  offspring."  — 

"  Forty  and  five  years  of  my  pilgrimage  are  now  completed, 
and  to  very  little  purpose,  either  for  the  honor  of  my  Maker 
or  the  benefit  of  mankind ;  consequently  I  have  hardly  learned 
the  true  end  of  living.  The  time  that  is  past  seems  but  a 
span !  and  although  a  very  poor  account  can  be  rendered  of 
it,  the  best  part  of  life  is  gone  irrecoverably  ;  upon  the  most 


310  MEMOIR     OF 

favorable  calculation  much  cannot  be  expected  from  the  re- 
mainder, and  no  dependence  can  be  placed  on  any  thing 
future  ;  were  it  not  for  the  hope  of  Divine  mercy  how 
wretched  would  be  my  lot !  But  what  ground  for  hope  in 
this  mercy  without  a  life  of  repentance,  faith,  and  new  obedi- 
ence !  Let  us  daily,  whether  together  or  apart,  unite  our 
supplications  at  the  throne  of  grace,  that  we  may  be  disposed 
to  live  that  life ;  that  the  remaining  part  of  our  life  may  be 
more  fruitful  of  service  to  others,  and  comfort  to  ourselves." 

Such,  year  after  year,  are  his  pensive  words,  until 
we  are  ready  to  say,  u  he  must  have  been  a  sad  man ; " 
no !  he  was  a  self-tasking  man ;  and  his  standard  was 
so  high  that  he  seemed,  to  himself,  immeasurably  be- 
low it.  His  was  not  the  humility  of  indifference,  nor 
of  dejection,  but  of  greatness  in  thought  and  deed,  as 
Newton  compared  all  his  researches  to  the  gathering 
of  a  few  pebbles  on  the  shore  of  the  wide  ocean  of 
truth.  He  thought  so  much  less  of  himself  than  other 
men  do,  because  he  saw  so  much  more  than  others  do 
in  virtue,  in  duty,  in  every  thing  good. 

In  apparent  contrast  with  these  characteristics,  yet 
in  admirable  proportion  to  them,  there  was  one  which 
adds  a  charm  to  his  memory ;  he  cherished  a  special  fond- 
ness for  the  young.  His  sensibilities  were  attuned  to  this 
affection  ;  his  whole  character  was  touched  by  its  mag- 
netism. Companion  of  statesmen  as  he  was,  and  a 
proverb  for  his  gravity,  he  was  never  more  in  his  ele- 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  311 

ment  than  when  conversing  with  a  little  child,  or  drop- 
ping his  goodly  maxims,  like  the  gentle  dew,  into  the 
heart  of  some  listening  youth.  It  was  not  a  patronizing, 
but  a  parental  interest,  which  he  exhibited,  especially 
when  through  his  prolonged  efforts  the  Academy 
brought  him  into  such  contact  with  the  sons  of  his 
friends  and  countrymen  from  all  points  of  the  compass. 

But  all  these  traits  would  not  have  completed  his 
type  of  Christian  symmetry,  without  his  rare  estimate  of 
the  uses  of  wealth,  as  the  handmaid  of  learning  and  religion. 
There  was  a  disinterestedness,  a  loftiness  of  virtue,  in 
the  strength  with  which  he  grasped  the  idea  of  conse- 
crating large  estates  to  such  ends,  which  commands  our 
reverence.  And  the  form  which  this  idea  took,  is  espe- 
cially to  be  admired.  It  sought  an  embodiment  in 
far-reaching  plans,  —  in  works  for  the  great  future,  — 
in  permanent  institutions.  It  concentrated  and  accu- 
mulated in  one  focus,  the  best  efforts  of  a  lifetime. 
It  did  not  refuse  daily  bread  to  the  poor,  nor  any  other 
transient  charity;  neither  did  it  scatter  all  its  stores 
in  such  infinitesimal  subdivisions.  It  pursued  the 
golden  via  media,  proposing  to  itself  prominently  ONE 
GREAT  WORK  to  be  accomplished,  while  not  neglecting 
such  others  as  were  consistent  with  it;  and  therefore 
it  "took  root  downward  and  bore  fruit  upward;"  it 
gave  to  his  own  spirit  breadth  and  versatility;  it 
linked  to  itself,  as  with  a  chain  of  gold,  all  his  other 


312  MEMOIR    OF    JUDGE    PHILLIPS. 

schemes :  it  subsidized  a  family  of  kindred  spirits,  and 
unlocked  their  hoards  and  hearts ;  it  reached  out,  first 
in  the  faith,  and  then  in  the  vision  of  its  fruits,  to  the 
very  ends  of  the  earth ;  and  "  by  it,  he  being  dead  yet 
speaketh." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

HIS    DECEASE. 

THE  best  life  must  end;  often  the  very  virtues  of 
the  good  are  presages  of  their  early  translation  to  a 
brighter  world.  As  his  years  glided  swiftly  away,  with 
increasing  debility  Judge  Phillips  redoubled  his  ac- 
tivity, until  he  completed  his  self-immolation  in  mid- 
life.  For  some  years  prior  to  his  death,  he  distinctly 
foresaw  it  approaching.  His  chronic  asthma  began 
to  be  ominous  of  fatal  consumption.  Often,  for  weeks 
in  succession,  it  prevented  his  enjoying  an  hour's  in- 
vigorating sleep,  and  oppressed  him  with  an  insatiable 
thirst.  With  unflagging  persistency,  therefore,  he  "  re- 
deemed the  time,"  not  thinking  how  to  relieve  his 
over-tasked  system,  but  how  to  fill  out  the  measure 
of  his  life-work  in  every  relation.  Had  he  consented 
at  a  much  earlier  date  to  relax  the  tension  of  his 
zeal,  the  shadow  on  his  dial  might  have  returned  ten 
degrees  backward,  as  it  did  for  a  sign  to  the  good 
king  Hezekiah. 

But  his  election  was  made ;  of  the  two,  he  preferred 

to  live  fast  rather  than  long ;  to  do  his  utmost  to-day 

27 


314  MEMOIR    OF 

and  not  count  upon  to-morrow;  to  do  as  many  things  as 
possible,  and  all  as  well  as  possible,  though  the  fire  of 
such  a  devotion  might  soon  consume  him.  This  seems  to 
most  minds  an  error  —  a  morbid  zeal ;  and  for  ordinary 
men  it  would  be  so,  but  there  is  little  hazard  of  their 
being  infected  with  it.  In  any  case,  it  is  ua  fault  that 
leans  to  virtue's  side."  But  in  his  case,  we  shrink  on  the 
whole  from  pronouncing  it  a  fault,  or  even  a  mistake. 
To  live  a  single  year  as  he  did,  is  more  than  ten  years 
of  ordinary  activity ;  and,  in  the  words  of  Burke, "  we 
must  pardon  something  to  the  spirit  of  liberty,"  with 
which  such  a  soul  is  fired  in  its  work.  It  cannot  be 
mechanically  moderate;  it  cannot  gauge  every  thing 
by  the  canons  of  mere  reason,  uninfluenced  by  its 
ruling  passion.  Trim  it  and  tame  it  by  such  processes 
and  you  extinguish  it.  The  extraordinary  man  is 
made  "  altogether  such  an  one  as  ourselves."  What 
makes  him  so  remarkable ;  what  has  given  him  such 
power,  and  made  him  accomplish  so  much,  until  you 
feel  what  a  pigmy  you  are  by  his  side,  is  the  very 
peculiarity  out  of  which  you  must  see  his  life-springs 
flowing  so  fast  and  full,  that  they  cannot  flow  long. 
Let  us  see  him,  then,  at  fifty  "  setting  his  house  in 
order."  In  the  summer  of  1801,  he  makes  a  last 
effort  to  recruit  his  strength,  by  journeying  in  com- 
pany with  Madam  Phillips  and  his  friend  Dr.  Pearson, 
who  exclaims,  in  reporting  their  progress:  "may  gra- 
cious Heaven  still  smile  on  the  undertaking,  and  pre- 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  315 

serve  a  life  so  dear  to  his  friends,  so  important  to  the 
public."  Their  tour  extends  through  the  western 
counties  of  the  Commonwealth  as  far  as  Albany ;  but 
no  skill  or  assiduity  can  avail,  and  he  returns  to  his 
home,  resigned  to  the  will  of  God  in  the  blighting  of 
their  hopes. 

The  postscript  in  that  long  New  Year's  letter  to  his 
son,  added  when  his  own  hand  has  become  too  feeble 
to  copy  it,  completes  his  work  for  him ;  so  in  every 
direction,  and  to  all  classes  of  friends,  he  sends  now 
his  final  words  of  counsel  or  of  adieu ;  he  gathers 
the  Trustees  about  him,  and  "particularly  requests 
that  a  select  committee  be  chosen  to  meet  once  in  a 
quarter  or  oftener,  to  inquire  into  the  state  of  the 
Academy,  the  proficiency  of  the  scholars,  and  the  con- 
duct of  the  instructors,  that  the  core  of  the  Institu- 
tion may  be  attended  to ;  "  thus,  with  his  latest  breath, 
planning  for  its  welfare ; 1  he  remembers  the  church 
of  his  choice  in  his  prayers  and  gifts,  directing  that 
a  massive  silver  flagon  be  presented  to  them,  "as  a 
memorial  of  his  sincere  affection  and  esteem,  and  his 
earnest  request  that  the  laudable  practice  of  reading 
in  the  house  of  public  worship  between  services  on 
Lord's  Day  may  be  continued,  so  long  as  even  a  small 
number  shall  be  disposed  to  attend  the  exercise ; " 
and  then,  amid  the  tenderest  endearments  of  his  be- 

1  Records  of  Phillips  Academy,  p.  155. 

2  Records,  South  Church. 


316  MEMOIR    OF 

loved  family,  he  calmly  expires ;  meeting  death,  as  he 
had  ever  met  his  duty,  in  the  serenity  of  Christian 
hope  and  faith.  The  friends  who  know  him,  and  feel 
his  death,  now  lead  us  again  over  the  circuit  of  his 
life,  and  pay  such  tributes  to  his  character  as  nothing 
but  the  heartiest  homage  could  ever  call  forth;  we 
accept  their  words,  and  repress  our  own. 

In  the  Centinel,  February  13,  1802,  we  read :  — 

"  Died,  at  his  seat  in  Andover,  at  2  o'clock  on  Wednesday 
afternoon,  his  Honor  SAMUEL  PHILLIPS,  Esquire,  ^£t.  50,  Lieu- 
tenant-Govern  or  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts. 

"  A  loss  deeply  to  be  deplored  by  every  friend  of  his  State 
and  country.  It  is  the  lot  of  few  to  acquire  a  reputation  so 
bright  and  unspotted  as  that  which  he  possessed,  and  of 
fewer  still  to  take  an  active  and  decided  part  in  all  political 
events,  and  yet  preserve  integrity  unimpeached,  and  talents 
uncontroverted.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1771. 
While  yet  a  youth,  the  qualities  which  made  eminent  his 
riper  years,  rendered  him  beloved  and  conspicuous.  At  this 
early  period  of  his  life,  he  was  distinguished  for  that  solidity 
of  judgment,  deep  penetration,  strict  moral  principle,  active 
virtue,  and  stable  Christian  piety,  which  constituted  the 
striking  features  of  his  character,  and  attained  for  him  the 
notice  of  his  instructors,  and  the  attachment  of  his  equals. 
He  had  scarcely  reached  manhood,  when  his  fellow-towns- 
men, with  a  readiness  which  does  honor  to  their  sagacity, 
elected  him  their  Representative ;  and,  by  their  suffrages  and 
that  of  his  district,  he  was  raised  to  a  seat  in  the  House  and 
Senate  of  the  State  for  twenty-five  years  successively,  until 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  317 

the  public  voice  elevated  him  to  the  high  station  in  which 
he  died.  .  .  .  The  Academy  which  bears  his  family  name, 
and  which  is  indebted  principally  to  his  patronage  for  its 
existence  and  celebrity,  witnesses  his  love  of  literature  and 
his  ardent  exertions  in  its  cause.  An  enthusiast  in  his  at- 
tachment to  virtue,  a  Christian  in  sentiment  and  the  strictest 
profession,  eminent  for  piety,  private  friendship,  and  zeal 
for  the  public,  what  good  breast  which  knew  his  worth, 
is  not  wrung  at  his  loss ;  what  lover  of  his  country  does  not 
lament  one  of  the  firmest  pillars  of  the  State,  and  of  private 
worth  one  of  the  brightest  examples  ?  " 

In  the  Journal  of  the  Legislature,  we  read  :  — 

"  HOUSE,  Thursday,  February  11. 

"  The  Secretary  delivered  the  following  Message  from  the 
Governor :  — 

"  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  SENATE,  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE 
HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  —  The  Commonwealth  has  lost 
one  of  its  best  and  ablest  friends  by  the  death  of  the  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor.  He  died  yesterday  about  two  in  the  after- 
noon ;  and  his  family  propose  that  his  funeral  shall  be 
attended  on  Monday  next  at  two  o'clock.  A  long  and  inti- 
mate acquaintance  with  him,  enables  some  of  us  to  bear  tes- 
timony to  his  distinguished  merit.  He  was  solicitous  to 
preserve  the  good  order  of  society,  and  to  exhibit  to  his  fel- 
low-citizens a  pattern  of  every  civil  and  moral  virtue.  With- 
out any  solicitation  on  his  part,  he  was  many  years  elected  a 
member  of  the  Senate,  and  presided  in  their  deliberations 
with  candor  and  dignity.  In  the  office  of  Lieutenant- Gov- 

27* 


318  MEMOIR    OF 

ernor,  he  secured  respect  by  mild  deportment,  resulting  from 
the  testimony  of  a  good  conscience.  He  was  firm  and  inflex- 
ble  whenever  the  interests  of  the  Commonwealth  were  con- 
cerned ;  and  he  acquitted  himself  with  honor  in  all  the 
offices  confided  to  him  by  the  public,  and  in  all  the  relations 
of  private  life.  I  shall  be  ready  to  join  with  you,  gentlemen, 
in  any  tribute  of  esteem  and  respect,  which  you  may  think 
due  to  the  merit  of  his  public  services. 

"  CALEB  STRONG. 
"  COUNCIL  CHAMBER,  February  11,  1802. 

The  Centinel  of  February  17,  continues  the  narra- 
tion :  — 

"  In  conformity  to  the  Resolutions  of  the  Legislature,  the 
tribute  of  esteem  and  respect  so  justly  due  the  deceased,  was 
paid  on  Monday  last,  in  this  town  and  at  Andover.  In  this 
town  the  members  of  the  Legislature  moved  in  procession  to 
the  old  brick  meeting-house,  where  the  Rev.  Mr.  Baldwin, 
Chaplain  of  the  House,  delivered  a  very  pertinent  and 
pathetic  discourse  from  John  i.  47,  { Behold  an  Israelite 
indeed,  in  whom  is  no  guile.'  The  Rev.  Dr.  Thatcher,  Chap- 
lain of  the  Senate,  concluded  the  solemnity  with  prayer. 
At  two  o'clock,  all  the  bells  in  town  commenced  tolling,  and 
continued  until  four  o'clock,  during  which  time  minute  guns 
were  discharged  by  Captain  Johonnot's  company. 

"  At  Andover  the  remains  of  the  deceased  were  entombed 
with  those  demonstrations  of  esteem,  respect,  and  affection, 
which  his  singular  worth  demanded.  The  procession  moved 
from  the  late  mansion-house  of  the  deceased,  in  the  following 
order  to  the  meeting-house  :  — 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  319 

The  present  pupils  of  the  Academy, 
Those  who  have  heretofore  received  instruction  in  that  Institution, 

The  Trustees  of  the  Academy, 
Trustees  of  Phillips  Exeter  Academy, 

The  Corpse, 

The  pall  was  borne  by  His  Excellency  the  Governor,  three  of  the 
Council,  the  President  of  the  Senate,  and  Speaker  of  the 

House  of  Representatives, 

The  Relatives,  and  a  very  long  train  of  mourning  fellow  citizens 
followed  the  Corpse. 

"  At  the  meeting-house,  a  select  choir  of  singers  performed 
an  anthem.  The  throne  of  grace  was  pertinently  and  fer- 
vently addressed  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  French,  whose  fast  flowing 
tears  testified  his  sincere  grief  for  the  loss  of  his  most  excel- 
lent parishioner  and  beloved  friend.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Tappan 
delivered  an  affecting  discourse  from  the  words,  — l  help, 
Lord,  for  the  godly  man  ceaseth,  for  the  faithful  fail  from 
among  the  children  of  men  ; '  in  which  he  delineated  in  just 
and  glowing  colors  the  character  of  the  illustrious  deceased 
Christian,  Patron  of  Science,  and  Patriot.  An  anthem  suita- 
ble to  the  solemn  occasion  closed  the  service.  His  Excel- 
lency Governor  Oilman,  and  other  eminent  characters  from 
New  Hampshire,  paid  a  just  tribute  to  departed  worth,  piety, 
and  patriotism,  by  attending  the  funeral  rites  of  this  highly 
venerated  and  esteemed  magistrate. 

"  The  Committee  of  the  Legislature  omitted  to  recom- 
mend any  military  escort  on  the  occasion,  in  consequence  of 
the  earnest  request  of  the  deceased  expressed  a  few  days  be- 
fore his  death,  he  being  apprehensive  that  the  health  of  his 
fellow-citizens  at  this  season  of  the  year  might  be  affected 
by  the  service." 


320  MEMOIR     01 

A  mourning  sheet,  on  which  one  of  the  anthems 
here  referred  to  was  printed  for '  the  occasion,  lies 
before  us,  the  only  copy  we  have  seen :  and  it  is  easy 
to  imagine  ourselves  listening  to  the  pathos  with  which 
the  choir  sings, — 

"  Th'  enlightened  FRIEND  of  human  kind, 
The  MAN  of  uncorrupted  mind, 
Whose  only  fault  was  too  much  zeal 
And  ardor  for  the  public  weal ; 

"  Whose  spotless  life  has  ever  stood, 
A  living  monument  of  good  ; 
Best  model  for  a  virtuous  age, 
And  glory  of  the  historic  page ; 

"  Though  lost  to  earth,  is  blest  above, 
Arrayed  in  robes  of  peace  and  love, 
Convened  amid  the  choir  divine, 
In  realms  of  endless  day  to  shine. 

"  PARENT  OF  ALL  !  whose  sovereign  will 
Obedient  cherubim  fulfil, 
Oh,  teach  us,  in  the  hour  of  death, 
With  tranquil  hope  to  yield  our  breath ; 

"  On  wings  of  faith  with  transport  rise, 
To  meet  thy  welcome  to  the  skies ; 
Enjoy  thy  rest,  receive  thy  crown, 
And  at  THY  SON'S  right  hand  sit  down." 

While  Dr.  Baldwin,  in  his  sermon  at  Boston,  gives  a 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  321 

rapid  sketch  of  the  deceased,  in  which  every  para- 
graph is  a  eulogy,  and  of  which  one  sentence  is  a  sum- 
mary, —  «  he  was  the  accurate  scholar,  the  enlightened 
statesman,  the  accomplished  gentleman,  and  the  ex- 
emplary Christian,"  —  Dr.  Tappan,  before  his  vast  audi- 
tory at  Andover,  pays  a  more  elaborate  and  lofty  tribute 
to  his  worth.  In  addition  to  what  has  been  already 
quoted  from  this  discourse,  we  would  gladly  cite  whole 
pages  here,  but  must  confine  ourselves  to  mere  sen- 
tences. Portraying  him  as  "  a  distinguished  ornament 
and  pillar  both  of  the  church  and  the  Commonwealth/' 
he  says :  — 

"  The  Author  of  nature  had  bestowed  on  him  many  emi- 
nent gifts,"  which  "  were  early  and  constantly  devoted  to  the 
best  ends  by  a  sublime  spirit  of  benevolence  and  godliness ; " 
"  the  piety  of  our  illustrious  citizen  was  equal  to  his  patriot- 
ism ;  his  religion  supported  and  exalted  both  his  private  vir- 
tues and  public  energies  ; "  "  he  was  a  distinguished  pattern 
of  virtuous  diligence  and  resolution  ;  "  "  both  his  solitary  and 
social  hours  were  intensely  devoted  to  some  object  of  utility ;  " 
"  his  cordial  and  extensive  hospitality,  his  tender  and  zealous 
patronage  of  friendless  or  indigent  merit,  his  eager  sacrifices 
of  private  business  and  interest  to  public  exigencies,  his 
efforts  to  rouse,  direct,  and  encourage  the  charity  and  public 
spirit  of  others,  his  distinguished  contributions  of  time,  influ- 
ence, and  property  to  seminaries  of  learning  and  religion, 
loudly  attest  his  PURE  AND  EXALTED  PHILANTHROPY  ; "  "  the  his- 
tory of  man  does  not  often  furnish  a  character  so  full  of 
various,  well  directed,  and  useful  energies.  It  does  not  often 


322  MEMOIR     OF 

illustrate  the  art  of  living  so  much  in  so  small  a  compass  of 
years ; "  "  his  soul  was  on  the  stretch  to  do  good  almost  to 
his  latest  breath." 

The  immense  concourse,  the  presence  of  so  many 
distinguished  civilians,  the  universal  sensibility,  and  the 
impressive  exercises,  with  which  her  favorite  son  was 
thus  laid  in  his  tomb,  made  this  a  most  memorable  day 
to  Andover ;  such  as  she  had  never  seen  before,  and 
will  never  see  again.  Even  her  own  town  records, 
where  deaths  are  not  usually  noted,  appear  to  throb  in 
sympathy  with  the  scene  ;  on  one  of  the  pages,  a  deep 
mourning  border  is  drawn,  enclosing  this  entry :  — 

"  The  Honorable  Samuel  Phillips,  Esquire,  was  elected 
Lieutenant-Governor,  qualified  for  that  office  agreeable  to 
the  Constitution,  and  continued  therein,  until  Wednesday, 
the  tenth  day  of  February,  1802,  about  two  o'clock,  P.  M., 
when  he  departed  this  life,  aged  fifty  years  and  five  days, 
universally  lamented." 

To  these  garlands,  showered  upon  his  tomb  at  the 
hour,  and  which  a  whole  Commonwealth  laid,  with  the 
insignia  of  her  seal,  upon  his  coffin,  we  add  some  pas- 
sages from  a  later  encomium  —  the  more  remarkable, 
because  they  show  how  little  a  score  of  years  could  do 
to  efface  his  image  from  the  memory  of  one  who  had 
fully  known  him.  It  is  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Dwight l 
in  1821,  in  these  words  :  — 

1  Dwight's  Travels,  Vol.  I.  p.  399,  400. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  323 

"  To  the  memory  of  Lieutenant- Govern  or  Phillips,  I  would 
willingly  pay  that  tribute  of  respect,  which  would  be  chal- 
lenged as  due  to  him  by  all  his  countrymen,  acquainted  either 
with  his  private  or  public  character.  In  the  year  1782  and 
1783,  I  lodged  in  the  same  house  with  him  in  Boston,  for 
three  months ;  and  being  occupied  in  the  same  concerns,  had 
every  opportunity  of  learning  his  character  which  I  could 
wish ;  particularly  as  he  treated  me  with  the  most  entire 
frankness  and  intimacy. 

"  The  mind  of  this  gentleman,  by  nature  vigorous  and  dis- 
cerning, was  early  strengthened  by  habits  of  industry,  and 
expanded  by  a  liberal  education."  ..."  The  learning  and 
science  to  which  he  chiefly  addicted  himself,  was  that  which 
most  usefully  affects  the  great  interests  of  man.  Of  a  char- 
acter eminently  practical,  knowledge  merely  speculative,  pre- 
sented few  allurements  to  his  eye ;  action,  he  considered  the 
end  of  thinking.  He  thought,  therefore,  and  read,  not  merely 
that  he  might  know  more,  but  that  he  might  become  better ; 
not  that  he  might  display  his  knowledge  to  his  fellow  men, 
but  that  he  might  do  them  good.  A  species  of  ethical  cast 
marked  his  conversation  and  life,  and  distinguished  him  from 
all  other  men  whom  I  have  known."  .  .  . 

"  He  who  is  able  and  willing  to  do  much  business,  will 
have  much  to  do.  Accordingly,  he  had  a  primary  agency  in 
all  the  measures  of  the  State  in  which  he  lived,  for  near 
thirty  years.  Without  exaggeration  it  may,  I  believe,  be 
said,  that  the  man  is  not  remembered,  who,  in  the  same 
offices,  was  more  able,  industrious,  faithful,  or  useful."  .  .  . 
"  In  his  mind  Christianity  flourished.  In  his  life  its  fruits 
were  genuine,  fair,  and  abundant.  Whether  Mr.  Phillips  was 
a  Christian,  in  the  evangelical  sense,  is  a  question  which,  I 


324  MEMOIR    OF 

suspect,  has  never  been  asked  by  any  man  acquainted  with 
his  character. 

"  His  person  was  tall  and  slender,  and  his  manners  were  a 
happy  combination  of  simplicity  with  refinement,  of  modesty 
with  dignity.  His  countenance  was  grave,  mild,  and  com- 
manding; his  features  were  fixed  in  the  sedateness  of  thought, 
and  gentle  with  the  amenity  of  virtue." 

The  character  which,  after  the  lapse  of  twenty  years, 
could  be  painted  so  vividly  and  with  such  nice  discrim- 
ination, is  yet  again  portrayed  for  us,  from  memory, 
with  graphic  distinctness,  at  the  close  of  half  a  century, 
by  one  from  whom  it  is  our  good  fortune  to  have  elic- 
ited the  tribute  in  the  following  letter :  — 

"  REV.  J.  L.  TAYLOR  :  — 

"  DEAR  SIR,  —  Your  favor  of  the  10th  ultimo  has  lain  by 
me  without  reply ;  but  when  you  approximate  your  eighty- 
fourth  year,  you  will  find  that,  though  the  spirit  is  willing, 
the  flesh  is  weak ;  and  that  time^  when  he  sees  gray  hairs  on 
the  head,  will  often  amuse  himself  with  rubbing  out  impres- 
sions on  the  brain,  so  that  they  become  feeble  and  at  times 
obliterated.  Though  I  have  omitted  to  reply,  I  have  at  no 
moment  lost  my  sense  of  gratification  at  the  information 
your  letter  contains,  that,  at  this  late  day,  you  have  under- 
taken to  do  such  justice  to  the  memory  of  Lieutenant- Gov- 
ernor Samuel  Phillips,  as  the  lapse  of  time  and  the  scanty 
documents  at  your  command  permit.  It  would  give  me 
great  pleasure  to  contribute  to  your  design,  as  you  request, 
but  I  fear  I  can  do  little  justice  even  to  my  own  impressions 
concerning  his  character,  and  far  less  than  his  merits  and  his 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  325 

efficient  influence  on  the  period  in  which  he  lived,  deserve. 
I  have  already,  in  reply  to  letters  addressed  to  me  by  Presi- 
dent Woods  and  Dr.  Sprague  of  Albany,  probably  exhausted 
all  the  few  reminiscences  at  my  command.  I  will  not,  how- 
ever, on  that  account,  refuse  briefly  to  contribute  to  your  pur- 
pose, though  at  the  danger  of  repeating  myself. 

"  Samuel  Phillips,  known  the  greater  part  of  his  life,  in 
consequence  of  the  life  of  his  father,  by  the  addition  of  Jun- 
ior^ was  an  extraordinary  rnan ;  but  it  is  very  difficult  to  give, 
at  this  day,  a  just  impression  of  his  character.  The  religious 
and  moral  element  in  it  was  mixed  so  intimately,  and  yet  so 
unaffectedly,  with  the  business  of  the  world  and  the  habits 
of  active  life,  that  he  seemed  to  be  a  perfect  embodiment  of 
the  Christian  statesman,  scholar,  and  philanthropist.  I  had 
opportunities  of  observing  him  from  the  year  1778,  when  I 
joined  the  Academy,  being  then  but  six  years  of  age,  and 
occasionally,  until  the  time  of  his  death  in  1802.  I  was  a 
frequent  visitor  in  his  family,  though  never  a  member  of  it. 
My  mother  was  daughter  of  his  father's  brother,  and  always 
stayed  in  his  house  when  she  visited  Andover,  which  brought 
me  to  be  almost  a  daily  inmate.  I  have  heard  his  addresses 
to  the  school  as  a  Trustee,  to  the  College  as  an  Overseer, 
and,  as  a  boy  and  a  man,  my  opportunities  for  personal  in- 
tercourse with  him  have  been  many  ;  and  I  can  truly  say  that 
I  have  never  met,  through  my  whole  life,  with  an  individual 
in  whom  the  spirit  of  Christianity  and  of  good-will  to  man- 
kind were  so  naturally  and  beautifully  blended  with  an  in- 
domitable energy  and  enterprise  in  active  life.  He  was  a 
leader  in  the  church,  a  leader  in  the  State ;  the  young  loved 
and  listened  to  him,  the  old  consulted  and  deferred  to  hie 
advice. 

28 


326  MEMOIR    OF 

"  I  have  travelled  with  him  from  Boston  to  Andover  alone, 
then  a  journey  of  the  chief  part  of  a  day;  his  discourse, 
adapted  to  a  boy  as  I  then  was,  full  of  sweetness  and  in- 
struction. 

"  His  love  of  the  young  was  intense.  He  delighted  in  the 
poetry  of  Watts,  which  he  seemed  to  have,  all  of  it,  by  heart ; 
so  readily  and  appositely  he  introduced  it  in  conversation, 
accompanied  by  a  never  ceasing  flow  of  wise  maxims,  given 
not  with  an  air  of  authority,  but  as  the  natural  outpouring 
of  a  good  and  kind  heart. 

"  I  cannot,  in  language,  do  justice  to  the  interest  and  affec- 
tion with  which,  on  these  occasions,  he  excited  the  young 
mind. 

"  In  his  capacity  for  business,  there  was,  as  it  were,  an 
universality  or  ubiquity.  In  the  town,  in  the  Senate,  in  the 
courts  of  justice,  in  committees  of  the  legislature,  as  a  referee 
in  cases  of  great  importance,  in  all  other  associations  on 
affairs  of  business,  his  influence  was,  as  far  as  was  possible 
in  respect  of  any  one  man,  paramount.  For  twenty  years  he 
was  a  member,  and  for  fifteen  President  of  the  Senate  of  the 
State,  at  a  period  when  statesmen  were  not  made  out  of 
every  sort  of  wood.  He  was  judge  of  the  Essex  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  a  member  of  every  important  committee,  on 
like  occasions  a  referee,  and,  at  the  same  time,  owned  and 
took  a  general  superintendence  of  two  stores,  one  at  An- 
dover, another  at  Methuen,  of  a  saw-mill,  a  grist-mill,  a 
paper-mill,  and  a  powder-mill,  on  the  Shawshine,  giving  to 
each  a  sufficient  and  appropriate  share  of  his  oversight ;  with 
a  spirit  subdued  by  the  predominancy  of  the  religious  senti- 
ment, he  was  as  earnest,  active,  and  indefatigable  in  this 
multitude  of  his  engagements,  as  though  this  world  was 
every  thing. 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  327 

"  In  fulfilling  business  duties,  difficulty  did  not  repress  his 
ardor,  nor  dangers  deter.  Boston  and  Andover  were  the 
chief  seats  of  his  labors.  The  business  of  one  sometimes 
interfered  with  that  of  the  other.  In  such  cases,  to  him  no 
obstacle  was  formidable.  It  was  not  uncommon  for  him  to 
leave  Boston  at  sunset  and  travel  to  Andover,  a  distance  of 
twenty-two  miles,  on  horseback,  and  sometimes  not  reaching 
home  until  midnight.  On  one  occasion  falling  asleep,  his 
horse  took  a  wrong  path  in  passing  through  woods,  and 
he  became  lost  in  them,  and  reached  home  not  until  nearly 
morning.  At  another  time  his  horse  fell  in  the  dark;  a 
broken  leg,  and  three  weeks'  detention  at  a  friend's  house, 
in  Medford,  was  the  consequence.  His  friends  remonstrated, 
on  these  occasions,  at  his  imprudence.  But  it  was  his  nature 
to  be  unmindful  of  every  thing  but  his  duty.  He  undoubt- 
edly, by  thus  exposing  himself,  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
asthma  and  of  other  disorders,  which  brought  him  to  his  grave 
when  but  little  past  the  meridian  of  life. 

"  Samuel  Phillips  (junior)  was,  probably,  in  the  general 
opinion  of  the  period,  the  efficient  founder  of  Phillips  Acad- 
emy.1 He  was,  indeed,  a  young  man,  not  yet  thirty  years 

1  In  addition  to  our  own  statements,  on  this  point,  in  a  previous 
chapter,  of  the  same  tenor  with  Mr.  Quincy's,  we  here  insert  the 
formal  and  explicit  testimony  of  Dr.  Tappan  and  Dr.  Pearson  to  the 
same  effect.  Dr.  Tappan,  who  was  his  class  mate  and  a  Trustee  of 
the  Academy,  speaks  of  him  in  the  discourse  at  his  funeral  as  "  its 
earliest  projector ; "  Dr.  Pearson,  his  confident,  a  resident  in  the 
place,  with  whom  he  conferred  often  while  writing  the  Constitution, 
and  the  first  Preceptor,  in  his  historic  sketch  delivered  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  Theological  Institution,  says  of  the  Academy,  "  the  tribute 
of  justice  has  not  been  paid  to  the  prime  mover,  as  well  as  active 


328  MEMOIR    OF 

old,  but  there  was  a  maturity  of  mind,  an  impressive  gravity 
in  his  demeanor,  to  which  the  old  as  well  as  the  young  bowed 
down.  He  was  equally  the  favorite  of  the  three  brothers ; 
while  they  found  the  means,  he  selected  the  locality,  wrote 
the  Constitution,  and  appointed  the  Instructor. 

"  I  have  thus,  Sir,  with  a  rapid  hand,  endeavored,  as  well 
as  I  could,  to  come  in  aid  of  your  purpose.  Its  success 
lies  near  my  heart;  and  I  shall  be  happy  to  reply  to  any 
questions  in  relation  to  him  or  the  Academy  you  may 
submit.  With  respect,  I  am  your  servant, 

"JosiAH  QUINCY. 

"BOSTON,  December  13,  1855." 

In  the  freshness  and  fragrance  of  such  reminiscences, 
lingering  longer  in  the  minds  of  his  survivors  than  the 
whole  term  of  his  life,  we  see  with  what  force  his  char- 
acter projected  itself  into  the  future,  for  which  he  lived. 
And  as  we  thus  gather  up  evidence  of  the  impressions 
which  he  had  made,  in  the  spontaneous  homage  of  all 
classes  of  minds,  uttered  at  his  death  and  afterwards, 
we  look  upon  it  all  as  prophetic  of  his  destiny  here. 

patron,  of  that  Seminary.  Let  it  then  for  once  be  publicly  an- 
nounced, and  this  without  diminishing  the  merit  of  the  generous 
Founders,  that  to  the  sagacious,  originating,  and  disinterested  mind 
of  the  late  patriotic  Lieutenant- Governor  PHILLIPS,  is  the  world  in- 
debted for  the  conception  of  an  Institution,  from  which  so  many  bless- 
ings have  already  flowed  to  the  community ; "  and,  at  the  close  of 
his  testimony,  he  crowns  the  eulogy,  by  the  deep  utterance  of  "  re- 
gret, that  this  paragon  of  public  spirit  so  early  took  his  upward 
flight!" 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  329 

It  cannot  be  that  such  a  character  will  ever  be  for- 
gotten. It  was  formed  to  live  on,  like  the  works  it 
produced,  in  such  perpetuity  as  earth  can  give,  as  well 
as  in  the  immortality  of  Heaven.  The  gratitude  of 
men,  and  the  providence  of  God,  must  conspire  to  bear 
along  its  image,  parallel  with  the  history  of  his  favor- 
ite Institution,  and  beaming  forth,  at  intervals,  in  new 
lustre,  as  its  great  career  expands.  Yet,  aside  from  the 
brief  obituary,  or  the  discourse  of  an  hour,  or  some 
scanty  page  in  a  biographical  dictionary,  or  a  passing 
tribute  in  a  journal  of  travels,  such  as  have  here  been 
cited,  there  has  been  no  written  memorial  of  him ! 

The  surviving  members  of  his  immediate  family,  we 
are  assured,  had  so  profound  a  reverence  for  his  char- 
acter, that  they  always  shrank  from  the  proposal  to 
sketch  it,  as  an  impossible  achievement;  and  so  they 
passed  away,  with  other  admiring  friends,  who  longed 
to  see  his  biography  written,  but  had  not  the  courage 
to  undertake  it,  lest  it  should  prove  unworthy  of  him. 
And  with  them  have  glided  into  oblivion  countless  in- 
cidents, and  memories,  and  impressions,  which,  at  an 
early  day,  might  have  helped  to  daguerreotype  him 
more  perfectly  than  is  now  possible. 

But  if  we  must  acquiesce  in  this  long  delay,  and  in 
all  that  it  has  detracted  from  the  fulness  of  his  por- 
traiture, it  was  at  least  our  duty  to  have  done  what  we 
could  now  to  commemorate  the  grand  distinguishing 
outlines  of  a  character  and  life  so  extraordinary,  both 

28* 


330  MEMOIR    OF 

as  a  monument  to  his  own  memory,  as  well  as  to  the 
name  and  fame  of  his  family,  and  for  the  honor  of  the 
Institution  in  which  he  is  held  in  deep  gratitude  and 
veneration  by  all. 

In  one  important  respect  the  delay,  which  we  lament, 
has  not  been  an  evil.  It  has  given  time  to  see,  on  a 
broad  scale,  the  real  magnitude  of  his  good  deeds  by 
their  fruits.  It  has  shown  us  in  history,  what  an  earlier 
memoir  could  only  have  prophesied  in  hope.  And 
having  spared  no  labor  in  the  collection  or  use  of  our 
materials,  sustained  in  the  effort  by  an  interest  which 
has  made  it  all  a  pastime,  yet  the  more  we  have  toiled 
growing  only  the  more  conscious  that  no  memorial  can 
equal  his  desert,  but  with  devout  gratitude  for  the  op- 
portunity to  study  him  so  intimately,  and  to  contribute 
any  thing  toward  holding  him  up  as  an  example  to  the 
young,  the  enterprising,  the  educated,  the  wealthy,  the 
honored,  —  who,  with  special  advantages,  may  be  stim- 
ulated by  his  influence  to  special  activity  in  fostering 
our  institutions  of  learning,  with  every  other  good  work, 
—  we  now  make  this  offering  to  his  memory,  in  the 
hope  that,  as  successive  generations  shall  continue  to 
reap  their  golden  harvests  from  seed  sown  by  him  in 
love  to  God  and  man,  yet  other  tongues  and  pens  will 
join  to  honor  him  with  ampler  tributes,  while  time 
shal?  last. 

We  are  not  uninfluenced  by  the  further  hope,  that 
inaugurating  the  organic  era  of  our  Andover  institu- 


JUDGE    PHILLIPS.  331 

tions  as  he  did,  such  a  memorial  of  him  may  give  him 
now  his  fitting  position  in  the  historic  era  to  which  the 
lapse  of  years  has  brought  us.  Whoever  may  be 
moved  to  write  of  the  gifts,  or  the  doctrines,  or  the 
names,  which  a  grateful  world  shall  associate  with  An- 
dover  in  the  work  of  education,  must,  in  his  measure, 
touch  upon  some  aspect  or  feature  of  this  rare  char- 
acter. From  the  beginning,  Andover,  in  all  this  work, 
has  drawn  to  itself  the  devoted  zeal  of  men  worthy  to 
second  the  plans  of  so  disinterested  and  sagacious  a  pro- 
jector :  the  names  of  Abbot,  and  Bartlet,  and  Brown,  and 
Norris,  and  Pearson,  and  Spring,  with  their  elect  com- 
peers and  successors,  will  be  immortal  here  amid  the  cir- 
cle of  the  PHILLIPSES  ;  but  among  them  all  he  must  ever 
stand  conspicuous,  our  admiration,  as  he  was  theirs ;  to 
be  copied,  if  he  cannot  be  equalled ;  to  be  commemo- 
rated, if  not  reproduced :  to  be  honored,  loved,  revered, 
wherever  learning  shall  find  a  friend,  or  religion  a 
votary. 


APPENDIX. 


REV.  George  Phillips  was  the  son  of  Christopher  Phillips, 
of  Rainham,  St.  Martin,  Norfolk  county,  England,  "  me- 
diocris  fortunse."  He  entered  Gonville  and  Cains  College, 
Cambridge,  April  20,  1610,  aged  seventeen  years  ;  graduated 
B.  A.  1613,  and  M.  A.  1617 ;  giving  there  indications  of 
deep  piety,  uncommon  talents  and  love  of  learning,  and  dis- 
tinguishing himself  by  his  remarkable  proficiency:1  the 
name  was  written  by  him  with  one  L,  "  George  Philips,"  but 
by  all  his  descendants  with  the  two  L's. 

The  original  name  of  the  Arbella  was  the  Eagle,  "  a  ship 
of  350  tons." 

1630.  —  On  Wednesday,  the  7th  of  April,  before  the  com- 
pany had  taken  their  final  leave  of  the  country,  although 
they  had  been  several  days  on  shipboard,  their  remarkable 
letter  was  addressed  "to  the  rest  of  their  brethren  in  the 
Church  of  England,"  subscribed  by  Winthrop,  Dudley,  John- 
son, Saltonstall,  Fiennes,  Coddington,  and  Phillips. 

"  Tuesday,  the  27th.  —  We  appointed  Tuesdays  and 
Wednesdays  to  catekise  "our  people,  and  this  day  Mr.  Phil- 
lips began  it." 

"  Lord's  day,  May  2.  —  Through   God's  mercy,  we  were 

1  Genealogies,  and  History  of  Watertown,  by  Henry  Bond,  M.  D.  Vol. 

U.  p.  872. 

(333) 


334  APPENDIX. 

very  comfortable,  and  few  or  none  sick,  but  had  opportunity 
to  keep  the  Sabbath,  and  Mr.  Phillips  preached  twice  that 
day." ! 

"  August  23.  —  The  first  court  of  assistants,  held  at 
Charlestown.  Present,  Governor  Winthrop,  Deputy-Gov- 
ernor Dudley,  Sir  Richard  Salton  stall,  Mr.  Ludlow,  Rossiter, 
Nowell,  T.  Sharp,  Pynchon,  and  Bradstreet ;  wherein  the  first 
thing  propounded  is,  how  the  ministers  shall  be  maintained  ? 
Mr.  Wilson  and  Phillips  only  proposed ;  and  ordered,  that 
houses  be  built  for  them  with  convenient  speed  at  the  pub- 
lick  charge.  Sir  R.  Saltonstall  undertook  to  see  it  done  at 
his  plantation  for  Mr.  Phillips ;  and  the  Governor  at  the  other 
plantation  for  Mr.  Wilson."  l 

i  Ordered,  that  Mr.  Phillips  should  have  allowed  him  3 
hogsheads  of  meale,  1  hogshead  of  malte,  4  bushells  of  In- 
dean  corne,  1  bushell  of  oatemeale,  half  an  hundred  of  salte 
fishe ;  for  apparell  and  other  provisions,  XX<£,  or  els  to  have 
XL<£  given  him  in  money  per  annum,  to  make  his  owne  pro- 
visions, if  hee  chuse  it  the  rather,  the  yeare  to  begin  the  first 
of  September  nexte.'  2 

"  September,  30.  —  Mr.  Phillips,  the  minister  of  Water- 
town,  and  others,  had  their  hay  burnt."  1 

"  November  30,  1630.  — «  It  is  ordered,  that  there  shall  be 
60<£  collected  out  of  the  severall  plantacions  following,  for 
the  maintenance  of  Mr.  Wilson  and  Mr.  Phillips,  namely: 
out  of  Boston,  2Q£  ;  Waterton,  20£  ;  Charlton,  10<£  ;  Rocks- 
bury,  6<£  ;  Medford,  3«£  ;  Winett-semett,  IX.'  "  2 

1631.  "July  21. —  The  Governor  and  deputy,  and  Mr. 
Nowell,  the  elder  of  the  congregation  at  Boston,  went  to 
Watertown  to  confer  with  Mr.  Phillips,  the  pastor,  and  Mr. 
Brown,  the  elder  of  the  congregation  there,  about  an  opinion 
which  they  had  published,  that  the  chh8  of  Rome  were 
true  chh8."  3 

1  Winthrop's  Journal,  Vol.  I.  p.  1,  5,  14,  15,  30,  36. 

2  Records  of  Massachusetts,  Vol.  I.  p.  73,  82. 

8  Winthrop's  Journal,  Vol.  I.  p.  58 ;  see  also  p.  67,  68,  81,  95. 


APPENDIX.  335 

"  February  17.  —  The  Governor  and  assistants  called  be- 
fore them,  at  Boston,  divers  of  Watertown ;  the  pastor  and 
elder  by  letter,  and  the  others  by  warrant.  The  occasion 
was,  for  that  a  warrant  being  sent  to  Watertown  for  levying 
of  ,£8,  part  of  a  rate  of  <£60,  ordered  for  fortifying  of  the 
new  town,  the  pastor  and  elder,  etc.,  assembled  the  people 
and  delivered  their  opinions,  that  it  was  not  safe  to  pay 
moneys  after  that  sort,  for  fear  of  bringing  themselves  and 
posterity  into  bondage."1  Commenting  on  this  transaction, 
Dr.  Bond  says,  "it  is  not  now  easy  to  estimate  the  extent 
and  importance  of  the  influence  of  Mr.  Phillips  in  giving 
form  and  character  to  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  institutions 
of  New  England;"  and  he  refers,  besides  Winthrop's  Journal, 
to  Hubbard's  History,  p.  186 ;  Richard  Brown,  p.  117 ;  John 
Oldharn,  p.  863 ;  Francis's  History,  p.  13-38,  etc. ;  see  Bond's 
Genealogies  and  History  of  Watertown,  p.  873.  .  .  . 

1644.  "  5  .  .  2.  —  Mr.  George  Phillips  was  buried.  [He 
died  the  day  previous,  July  1st]  He  was  the  first  pastor  of 
the  church  of  Watertown,  a  godly  man,  specially  gifted,  and 
very  peaceful  in  his  place,  much  lamented  of  his  own  people 
and  others."  2 

Referring  to  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  in 
England,  Cotton  Mather  says,  —  "He  found  much  acceptance 
with  good  men,  as  being  a  man  mighty  in  the  Scriptures. 
But  his  acquaintance  with  the  writings  and  persons  of  some 
old  Non  -  Conformists  j  had  instilled  into  him  such  principles 
of  Church  Government  as  were  like  to  make  him  unaccepta- 
ble unto  some  who  then  drove  the  world  before  them.  .  .  . 
And  as  for  Mr.  Phillips,  the  more  he  was  put  upon  the  study 
of  the  Truth  in  the  matter  controverted,  the  more  he  was 
confirmed  in  his  own  opinion  of  it.  ...  When  the  spirit  of 
persecution  did  at  length  with  the  extremest  violence  urge  a 
conformity  to  Ways  and  Parts  of  Divine  worship,  conscien- 
tiously scrupled  by  such  persons  as  our  Mr.  Phillips,  he  with 

1  Winthrop's  Journal.  Vol.  I.  p.  70.  2  Ibid.  Vol.  H.  p.  171. 


336  APPENDIX. 

many  more  of  his  neighbors,  entertained  thoughts  of  trans- 
porting themselves  and  their  families  into  the  Deserts  of 
America ;  .  .  .  here  quickly  after  his  landing  he  lost  the  de- 
sire of  his  eyes,  in  the  death  of  his  desirable  consort,  who, 
though  an  only  child,  had  cheerfully  left  her  parents  to  serve 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  a  terrible  wilderness.  At  Salem 
she  died,  entering  into  the  Everlasting'  Peace.  .  .  .  Mr.  Phil- 
lips, being  better  acquainted  with  the  true  church  discipline 
than  most  of  the  ministers  that  came  with  him  into  the  coun- 
try, their  proceedings  about  the  gathering  and  ordering  of 
their  church  were  methodical  enough,  though  not  in  all  things 
a  pattern  for  all  the  rest.  Upon  a  day  set  apart  for  solemn 
fasting  and  prayer,  the  very  next  month  after  they  came 
ashore  they  entered  into  this  Holy  Covenant:  — 

"  July  30,  1630.  —  We  whose  names  are  hereto  subscribed, 
having  through  God's  mercy,  escaped  out  of  the  pollutions  of 
the  world,  and  been  taken  into  the  society  of  his  people,  with 
all  thankfulness  do  hereby  with  heart  and  hand  acknowledge, 
That)  his  gracious  goodness  and  fatherly  care  towards  us: 
and  for  further  and  more  full  declaration  thereof,  to  the  pres- 
ent and  future  ages,  have  undertaken  (for  the  promoting  of 
his  glory  and  the  churches  good,  and  the  honor  of  our  blessed 
Jesus,  in  our  more  full  and  free  subjecting  of  ourselves  and 
ours,  under  his  gracious  government,  in  the  practice  of,  and 
obedience  unto  all  his  holy  ordinances  and  orders,  which  he 
hath  pleased  to  prescribe  and  impose  upon  us)  a  long  and 
hazardous  voyage  from  East  to  West,  from  Old  England  in 
Europe,  to  New  England  in  America :  that  we  may  walk  be- 
fore him,  and  serve  him  without  fear  in  holiness  and  righteous- 
ness all  the  days  of  our  lives ;  and  being  safely  arrived  here, 
and  thus  far  onwards  peaceably  preserved  by  his  special 
Providence,  that  we  may  bring  forth  our  Intentions  into 
Actions,  and  perfect  our  Resolutions  in  the  beginnings  of 
some  just  and  meet  Executions :  We  have  separated  the  day 
above  written  from  all  other  services,  and  dedicated  it  wholly 
to  the  Lord  in  divine  employments  for  a  day  of  afflicting  our 


APPENDIX.  337 

souls,  and  humbling  ourselves  before  the  Lord,  to  seek  him, 
and  at  his  hands,  a  way  to  walk  in,  by  fasting  and  prayer, 
that  we  might  know  what  was  good  in  his  sight ;  and  the  Lord 
was  intreated  of  us. 

"  For  in  the  end  of  that  day,  after  the  finishing  of  our  pub- 
lic duties,  we  do  all,  before  we  depart,  solemnly,  and  with  all 
our  hearts,  personally,  man  by  man,  for  ourselves  and  ours, 
(charging  them  before  Christ  and  his  elect  angels,  even  them 
that  are  not  here  with  us  this  day,  or  are  yet  unborn,  that 
they  keep  the  promise  unblameably  and  faithfully  unto  the 
coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus,)  promise,  and  enter  into  a  sure 
covenant  with  the  Lord  our  God,  and  before  him  with  one 
another,  by  Oath  and  serious  Protestation  made,  to  renounce 
all  idolatry,  and  superstition,  and  will-worship,  all  human  tra- 
ditions and  inventions  whatsoever,  in  the  worship  of  God; 
and  forsaking  all  evil  ways,  do  give  ourselves  wholly  unto 
the  Lord  Jesus,  to  do  him  faithful  service,  observing  and 
keeping  all  his  statutes,  commands,  and  ordinances,  in  all 
matters  concerning  our  Reformation;  his  worship,  administra- 
tions, ministry,  and  government,  and  in  the  carriage  of  our- 
selves among  ourselves,  and  one  towards  another,  as  he  has 
prescribed  in  his  Holy  Word;  further  swearing  to  cleave 
unto  that  alone,  and  the  true  sense  and  meaning  thereof,  to 
the  utmost  of  our  power,  as  unto  us  the  most  clear  Light  and 
infallible  Rule,  and  all-sufficient  Canon,  in  all  things  that  con- 
cern us  in  this  our  way. 

"  In  witness  of  all  we  do  ex  animo,  and  in  the  presence  of 
God  hereto  set  our  names  or  marks,  in  the  day  and  year  above 
written.  About  forty  men,  whereof  the  first  was  that  excel- 
lent knight,  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall,  then  subscribed  this  in- 
strument, in  order,  unto  their  coalescence  into  a  Church  es- 
tate. .  .  . 

"  A  church  of  believers  being  thus  gathered  at  Watertown, 
this  reverend  man  continued  for  divers  years  among  them, 
faithfully  discharging  the  duties  of  his  ministry  to  the  flock 
whereof  he  was  made  the  overseer ;  and  as  a  faithful  steward 

29 


338  APPENDIX. 

giving  to  every  one  their  meat  in  due  season.  Herein  he  de- 
monstrated himself  to  be  a  real  divine ;  but  not  in  any  thing 
more  than  in  his  most  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  Divine 
Oracles  of  the  Scripture.  .  .  .  He  had  so  thoroughly  perused 
and  pondered  them,  that  he  was  able  on  the  sudden  to  turn 
to  any  text)  without  the  help  of  concordances ;  and  they  were 
so  much  his  delight,  that  as  it  has  been  by  some  of  his  family 
affirmed,  he  read  over  the  whole  Bible  six  times  every  year ; 
nevertheless  he  did  use  to  say  that  every  time  he  read  the  Bible, 
he  observed  or  collected  something,  which  he  never  did  before. 
.  .  .  He  was  indeed  —  among  the  first  saints  of  New  Eng- 
land—  a.  good  man  and  full  of  faith  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost; 
and  for  that  cause  he  was  not  only  in  public,  but  in  private 
also,  very  full  of  holy  discourse  on  all  occasions ;  especially 
on  the  Lord's  day,  at  noon,  the  time  intervening  between  the 
two  exercises  he  would  spend  in  conferring  with  such  of  his 
good  people  as  resorted  unto  his  house,  at  such  a  rate  as  mar- 
vellously ministered  grace  unto  the  hearers"  .  .  . 

The  preceding  extracts  from  Mather's  enthusiastic  and  dis- 
criminating tribute  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  Phillips,  fill  us  with 
surprise  that,  by  any  sudden  freak  of  his  unique  genius,  he 
could  have  penned  the  following  whimsical  and  ambiguous 

Epitaphium. 

Hie  jacet  GEORGIUS  PHILLIPPI. 
Vir  Incomparabilis,  nisi  SAMUELEM  genuisset.1 


B. 

Rev.  Samuel  Phillips,  of  Rowley,  had  a  numerous  family ; 
his  third  child,  Samuel,  who  was  his  eldest  surviving  son, 
born  March  23,  1657-8,  engaged  in  business  as  a  goldsmith 
in  Salem,  married,  in  1687,  Mary  Emerson,  daughter  of  Rev. 

1  Magnalia,  Book  III.  p.  82,  83,  84. 


APPENDIX.  339 

John  Emerson,  of  Gloucester,  and  died  October  13,  1722, 
aged  sixty-five.  It  is  through  this  son  that  we  connect  his 
ancestry  with  most  of  the  Phillipses  named  in  this  memoir. 

Another  son,  George,  his  seventh  child,  named  after  the 
family  patriarch  at  Watertown,  was  born  in  1664 ;  graduated 
at  Harvard  University,  1686,  and  labored  in  the  ministry, 
first  in  Jamaica,  L.  I.,  until  1697,  and  afterwards  in  Brook- 
haven,  until  his  death  in  1739.  "  His  character  and  qualifica- 
tions were  of  a  high  order."  l  Thus  the  family  connection 
with  the  ministry  and  with  liberal  learning  was  continued. 
One  of  his  sisters  was  also  married  to  Rev.  Edward  Payson, 
of  Rowley,  the  colleague  of  his  father.  At  the  decease  of 
the  father,  he  was  greatly  lamented.  "  In  1839,"  says  Dr. 
Bond,  "  a  chaste  and  handsome  marble  monument  was  placed 
over  the  remains  of  Mr.  Phillips  and  his  wife,  in  the  burial- 
ground  of  Rowley,  by  Hon.  Jonathan  Phillips  of  Boston, 
their  great-great-great-grandson.  Upon  it  is  an  inscription  to 
their  memories,  and  likewise  to  several  of  their  honorably 
distinguished  descendants."2  Various  manuscripts  of  this 
venerated  man  are  still  preserved  in  the  family,  especially  his 
sermons  and  lectures.  The  handwriting  is  extremely  minute, 
so  as  to  be  deciphered  with  difficulty,  —  more  so  than  that 
of  any  of  the  family,  which  we  have  had  occasion  to  exam- 
ine ;  yet  there  is  a  characteristic  neatness  and  symmetry, 
which  one  would  not  fail  to  admire. 


C. 

Mr.   Phillips  began  to  preach  in  this  precinct  April  30, 
1710 ;  and  after  gathering  about  him,  in  the  true  spirit  of  a 

1  See  Winthrop's  Journal,  Vol.  II.  p.  171. 

2  Bond's  Gen.  and  Hist,  p.  875,  etc. ;  the  inscription  in  full,  as  referred  to 
above,  may  be  seen  in  Gage's  History  of  Rowley,  p.  73,  74 ;  together  with 
other  interesting  statements  respecting  Rev.  Mr.  Phillips  and  his  descend- 
ants. 


340  APPENDIX. 

pioneer  missionary,  a  little  band,  he  united  with  them  in  the 
formation  of  the  Church,  his  name  being  the  first  subscribed 
to  their  covenant,  followed  by  thirty-four  others.  This  cov- 
enant as  recorded,  and  doubtless  drawn  up  by  his  own 
hand,  is  as  follows  :  — 

"  A  Covenant  for  the  Gathering  and  Settling  of  a  Church  in  the 
South  Precinct  of  Andover. 

"  We,  whose  names  are  hereunto  subscribed,  apprehending 
ourselves  called  of  God  to  join  together  in  Christian  com- 
munion (acknowledging  our  unworthiness  of  such  a  privilege, 
and  our  inability  to  keep  covenant  with  God  unless  Christ 
shall  enable  us  thereunto),  in  -humble  dependence  on  free 
grace  for  Divine  assistance  and  acceptance,  we  do,  in  the 
name  of  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,  freely  €ovenant  and  bind 
ourselves,  solemnly,  in  the  presence  of  God  himself,  his  holy 
angels,  and  all  his  servants  here  present,  to  serve  the  only 
living  and  true  God,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  whose 
name  alone  is  Jehovah,  cleaving  to  him  as  our  chief  good, 
and  unto  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  our  only  Saviour,  the 
Prophet,  Priest,  and  King  of  our  souls,  in  a  way  of  Gospel 
obedience  :  Avouching  the  Lord  to  be  our  God,  and  the  God 
of  our  children,  whom  we  give  unto  him  ;  and  resolve  that 
we  and  our  houses  will  serve  the  Lord,  counting  it  as  an 
high  favor,  that  the  Lord  will  accept  of  us,  and  our  children 
with  us,  to  be  his  people. 

"  We  do  also  give  ourselves  one  to  another  in  the  Lord, 
covenanting  to  walk  together  as  a  Church  of  Christ  in  all 
the  ways  of  his  worship,  according  to  the  Holy  Rules  of  his 
Word ;  promising,  in  brotherly  love,  faithfully  to  watch  over 
one  another's  souls,  and  to  submit  ourselves  to  the  discipline 
and  power  of  Christ  in  his  Church  ;  and  duly  to  attend  the 
seals  and  censures,  or  whatever  ordinances  Christ  has  com- 
manded to  be  observed  by  his  people,  so  far  as  the  Lord  by 
his  word  and  spirit  has  or  shall  reveal  unto  us  to  be  our  duty, 


APPENDIX.  341 

adorning  the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour  in  all  things,  avoid- 
ing even  the  very  appearance  of  evil. 

"  And  that  we  may  keep  our  covenants  with  God,  we 
desire  to  deny  ourselves,  and  to  depend  wholly  on  the  free 
mercy  of  God,  and  upon  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ;  and, 
wherein  we  shall  fail,  to  wait  on  him  for  pardon,  through  his 
name,  beseeching  the  Lord  to  own  us  as  a  Church  of  Christ, 
and  to  delight  to  dwell  in  the  midst  of  us." 

It  is  now  nearly  a  century  and  a  half  since  this  Church 
was  thus  in  due  form  constituted  ;  and  few  churches  in  any 
community  have  been  more  prosperous  or  useful ;  or  have 
with  more  hearty  unanimity  continued  to  cherish  the  mem- 
ory of  their  first  pastor.  To  this  day  the  Church  reminds 
itself  of  Covenant  obligations,  and  of  its  early  spiritual  guide, 
by  printing  in  its  catalogues  his  comprehensive  answer  to 
the  question, — 

"  What  shall  we  do  that  we  may  keep  in  mind  our  Covenant? 

"  1.  Very  diligently  and  devoutly  attend  to  the  Covenant, 
whensoever  it  is  publicly  propounded  to  any  person;  and 
yield  your  assent  and  consent  to  every  article  and  tittle  of  it. 

"  2.  Not  only  wait  upon  Christ  at  his  table  on  all  opportu- 
nities, but  always  eye  the  Lord's  Supper  as  the  SEAL  of  the 
Covenant.  And  every  time  you  partake,  realize  that  you 
have  bound  yourselves  afresh  to  keep  Covenant  with  God ; 
for,  to  take  the  Sacrament,  is  to  take  the  oath  of  obedience 
and  loyalty. 

"  3.  Look  upon  the  Holy  Scriptures,  in  your  daily  reading 
of  them,  as  the  book  of  the  Covenant ;  for  so  it  is,  inasmuch 
as  it  exhibiteth  our  duty  towards  God  and  man ;  and  also 
what  we  may  hope  and  expect  to  receive  from  the  hand  of 
God  if  we  keep  his  statutes.  Exod.  xxiv.  7. 

"  4.  Labor  to  have  it  impressed  and  fixed  upon  your  minds, 
that  heaven  and  earth  are  witnesses  of  your  covenanting  with 
the  great  God ;  and  that  God,  angels,  and  men  will  certainly 
29* 


342  APPENDIX. 

appear  as  such,  either  for  or  against  you,  in  the  day  of  reck- 
oning. 

"  5.  Discourse  frequently  together  of  the  things  pertaining 
to  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  particularly  of  the  Covenant ; 
namely,  the  precepts,  prohibitions,  promises,  and  threatenings  ; 
of  the  vows  which  you  have  made,  and  the  comfortable  ex- 
perience which  you  and  others  have  had  of  God's  gracious 
presence,  etc.  This  practice  will  be  of  eminent  service  to 
help  the  memory,  as  also  to  quicken  unto  obedience. 

"  6.  Frequently  renew  your  Covenant  with  the  Lord  in 
secret,  as  becomes  those  who  resolve  to  stand  to  what  they 
have  said  ;  this  is  not  only  the  duty,  but  I  should  think  will 
be  also  very  much  the  delight  of  a  sincere  soul ;  and  a  choice 
help  it  is,  to  revive  our  remembrance  of  the  Covenant,  and 
to  excite  our  affections,  and  to  quicken  us  to  mend  our  pace. 

"  7.  Keep  your  Covenant  by  you  as  a  memorial  of  the 
solemn  transactions  which  have  passed  between  God  and 
you,  and  frequently  review  the  same. 

"8.  And,  lastly,  prayer  must  be  always  one  direction. 
And  this  duty  must  be  attended  and  performed  not  only  in 
public,  and  in  and  with  the  families  which  you  respectively 
belong  unto,  but  also  in  secret.  Thou,  when  thou  prayest, 
enter  into  thy  closet,  and  when  thou  hast  shut  thy  door,  pray 
to  thy  Father,  which  is  in  secret.  —  Matth.  vi.  6.  This  duty 
of  secret  prayer  I  hope  you  do  not  dare  to  neglect ;  you  can- 
not, I  think,  ordinarily  omit  it,  if  you  have  a  living,  holy, 
principle  within  you.  Well,  and  you  must  pray  especially 
for  spiritual  blessings  ;  and  in  particular,  that  the  Lord  would 
please  to  put  his  law  in  your  inward  parts,  and  write  it  in 
your  hearts ;  '  that  He  would  make  it  ready  and  familiar  to 
you,  at  hand  when  you  have  occasion  to  use  it,  as  that  which 
is  written  in  the  heart ;  that  He  would  work  in  you  a  strong 
disposition  to  obedience,  and  an  exact  conformity  of  thought 
and  affection  to  the  rules  of  the  Divine  law,  as  that  of  the 
copy  to  the  original.'  You  have  a  disposition  this  way  al- 
ready ;  pray  that  it  may  abide  and  grow,  and  plead  that 


APPENDIX.  343 

precious  promise  in  Jer.  xxxi.  33 ;  and  the  more  you  are  dis- 
posed this  way,  the  less  danger  will  there  be  of  your  forget- 
ting the  Covenant  of  the  Lord  your  God. 

"  USE.  —  From  what  has  been  said,  let  professors  be  ex- 
horted to  put  one  another  in  mind  of  their  Covenant  duties  and 
obligations.  It  is  true,  we  may  not  watch  over  others  and 
neglect  ourselves,  as  some  to  their  great  reproach  are  said  to 
do ;  neither  may  our  charity  end  at  home ;  for  the  law  of 
God  obliges  us  to  love  our  neighbor  as  ourselves.  And 
again  it  is  written,  Exhort  one  another  daily.  And  it  is  re- 
marked concerning  those  that  fear  the  Lord,  that  they  spake 
often  one  to  another.  —  Mai.  iii.  16.  And  have  we  not  ex- 
pressly bound  ourselves  by  Covenant  to  watch  over  one  an- 
other ?  Yes,  verily.  How  then  shall  we  dare  to  neglect  it ; 
especially  considering  that  a  great  deal  of  sin  and  sorrow 
might  probably  be  prevented,  if  professors  would  in  this  way 
be  kind  and  faithful  to  one  another?  Thus,  for  instance, 
when  a  neighbor  or  brother  is  observed  to  be  going  into 
temptation,  or  in  present  danger  of  falling  into  some  trans- 
gression, it  is  not  improbable  that  these  words,  spoken  in  a 
suitable  manner,  in  his  hearing,  remember  your  Covenant^ 
would  prevent  his  fall ;  or,  if  he  has  already  fallen,  it  may 
be  those  words  would  be  the  means  of  recovering  him  out 
of  the  snare  of  the  devil ;  and  of  bringing  him  unto  un- 
feigned repentance.  And  so,  if  you  see  a  brother  backward 
to  any  good  work,  respecting  either  God  or  man,  perhaps 
this  memento  would  shame  and  quicken.  Now  we  are  un- 
doubtedly obliged  to  do  this,  and  much  more,  to  prevent 
each  other's  hurt,  and  to  promote  each  other's  good.  O  let 
us  not  be  negligent." 

Under  what  influences  Mr.  Phillips  was  led  to  devote 
himself  to  the  ministry  we  are  not  informed ;  but  his  mother 
was  the  daughter  of  a  clergyman,  Rev.  John  Emerson,  of 
Gloucester ;  his  uncle  George  was  then  a  useful  pastor ;  his 
venerable  grandfather,  at  Rowley,  lived  to  be  quite  distinctly 


344  APPENDIX. 

remembered  by  him,  as  a  vision  of  his  childhood,  and  the 
names  of  both  the  grandfather  at  Rowley,  and  the  great- 
grandfather at  Watertown,  were  cherished  with  affectionate 
veneration  in  the  family.  .  .  .  Such  influences,  united  with 
his  own  self-relying  character,  and  his  decisive  religious  con- 
victions and  experience,  were  adapted  to  make  him  cling 
with  ardor  to  the  profession  of  his  choice,  and  with  some- 
what of  the  spirit  of  a  champion,  in  defence  of  his  tenets. 
"  Being  sincerely  attached,"  says  Allen,  "  to  those  views  of 
religious  truth,  which  were  embraced  by  the  first  fathers  of 
New  England,  he  could  not  quietly  see  the  efforts  that  were 
made  to  pervert  the  faith,  which  he  was  persuaded  was  once 
delivered  to  the  saints.  He  exerted  himself  both  by  his 
preaching  and  his  writings,  to  guard  his  people  against  the 
intrusion  of  error." l  "  His  anxiety  on  the  subject,"  says  the 
compiler  of  the  History  of  Andover,  "  may  be  easily  seen  in 
some  of  his  last  publications,"  2  his  zeal  growing  more  intense 
with  his  years.  It  may  be  a  matter  of  interest  to  some  of 
the  readers  of  this  Memoir,  to  state  that  among  his  manu- 
script sermons  which  we  have  examined,  are  two  preached 
by  him  upon  which  he  wrote  the  following  memoranda :  — 

"  '  Andover,  May  12th>  1734  :  Being  the  last  Sabb :  of  our  meeting  in  our 
old  meeting-house ;  which  had  been  improved  24  years  and  almost  4  mo : 
John  14,  ult ;  —  Arise  :  let  us  go  hence.' 

"  'Andover,  May  19th,  1734 :  Being  ye  First  Sabb:  of  our  meeting  in  our 
new  meeting-house.  I  Chron :  29,  13,  14:  Now  y*f ;  our  God,  we  thank 
thee  and  praise  thy  glor :  N.  But  w°  am  I,  and  w*  is  my  pp,  &c.' " 

The  language  of  his  will  in  the  bequests  to  charitable  ob- 
jects, referred  to  in  the  text,  and  which  illustrates  his  great 
discrimination  and  carefulness,  is  as  follows  :  —  "I  give  the 
just  sum  of  £100  L.  M>,  as  an  abiding  fund  for  ye  relief  of 
indigent  Persons  in  the  South  Parish  of  Andover,  aforesaid ; 
namely,  proper  objects  of  charity,  and  such  as  receive  no  help 

1  Allen's  Biog.  Diet.  p.  477. 

2  History  of  Andover,  by  Abiel  Abbot,  A.  M.  1829,  p.  106. 


APPENDIX.  345 

from  the  town,  more  especially  those  of  ye  chh,  in  the  said 
Parish,  standing  in  need  of  relief;  the  said  sum  of  money  to 
be  paid  by  my  executors  to  ye  ministers  and  deacons  of  said 
society  or  parish  after  my  decease ;  namely,  at  the  resettle- 
ment of  a  pastor  of  ye  congregational  persuasion ;  the  prin- 
cipal always  to  be  kept  out  upon  interest  on  good  security, 
never  to  be  disposed  of,  and  only  ye  interest  thereof  to  be 
given  away ;  and  when  there  is  not  occasion  for  ye  whole  of 
y6  interest,  then  ye  remainder  to  be  added  to  ye  principal,  and 
to  be  put  out  upon  interest  also ;  and  the  whole  to  be  conducted 
as  ye  said  ministers  and  deacons  of  ye  said  Parish,  for  ye  time 
being,  to  ye  end  of  time,  shall,  in  their  wisdom,  judge  best: 
and  a  fair  and  just  account  to  be  taken  and  preserved  by  ym 
in  a  book  for  that  purpose,  of  their  disposal  of  the  same 
from  year  to  year,  to  be  produced  for  ye  information  of  any 
who  may  desire  it.  I  give  the  like  sum  of  ,£100  L.  M'y,  for 
ye  pious  and  charitable  use  of  propagating  Christian  knowl- 
edge among  ye  Indians  of  North  America;  and  to  be  dis- 
posed of  for  that  intent,  at  such  times,  and  to  such  person  or 
persons,  as  my  exectrs  shall  think  best."  These  executors 
were  his  three  sons. 

The  children  of  Rev.  Samuel  Phillips,  were  :  — 

1.  Mary,  bom  November  30, 1712,  O.  S. ;  baptized  the  next 
Lord's  day ;  admitted  to  the  church,  July  8,  1734 ;  married 
to   Samuel   Appleton,   of  Haverhill,   October  12,  1736,  and 
died  in  1737. 

2.  Samuel,  born  February  13,  1715;  baptized  the  same 
day  ;  admitted  to  the  church  on  the  same  day  with  his  sister 
Mary,  July  8,  1734 ;  dismissed  to  the  North  Church  in  An- 
dover,  April  1,  1739,  where  he  resided  till  his  death,  August 
21,  1790. 

3.  Lydia,  born  June  10,  1717;  baptized  the  next  Lord's 
day ;  married  Dr.  Parker  Clark,  May  18,  1742 ;  died  Novem- 
ber 4,  1749. 

4.  John,  born  December  27,  1719 ;  baptized  the  same  day ; 


346  APPENDIX. 

recognized  his  baptismal  covenant,  April  27, 1735  ;  graduated 
at  Harvard  College,  1735 ;  died  August  21,  1795. 

5.  William,  born  June  25,  1722 ;  baptized  July  1 ;  recog- 
nized his  baptismal  covenant,  December  5,  1736 ;  died  Janu- 
ary 15,  1804.  See  Bond's  Gen.  &  Hist. ;  Records  of  the 
South  Church,  Andover,  etc.  The  date  of  William's  birth, 
as  here  given,  differs  from  Dr.  Bond's,  perhaps  from  an  error 
in  connection  with  the  change  of  style ;  as  the  addition  of 
eleven  or  twelve  days  would  bring  our  date  forward  to  his, 
July  6th. 


D. 

Mr.  Phillips  and  Miss  Barnard  were  married  July  11,  1738 ; 
their  children  were  :  — 

1.  Theodore,  born  May  2,  1739 ;   baptized   May  6  ;  died 
January  25,  1740. 

2.  Hannah,  born  January  20,  1742  ;  baptized  January  — ; 
died  June  15,  1764. 

3.  Samuel,  born  November  6,  1743;  baptized  November 
6  ;  died  December  24,  1744. 

4.  Theodore,  born  September  6, 1745 ;  baptized  September 
—  ;  died  December  1,  1758. 

5.  Elizabeth,  born  October  31,  1747 ;  baptized  October  — ; 
died  June  24,  1748. 

6.  Samuel,  born  February  5,  1752 ;  baptized  February  — ; 
died  February  10,  1802. 

7.  Elizabeth,  bom  October  18,  1755 ;  baptized  October  — ; 
died  April  19,  1757. 

See  Bond's  Gen.  &  Hist,  of  Watertown,  p.  881.  Records 
of  First  Church  in  Andover;  Abbot's  History  of  Andover, 
etc.  etc. ;  in  the  date  of  the  last  Samuel's  birth,  as  here  given, 
according  to  the  various  records  in  Andover,  which  we  con- 
sider decisive,  there  is  a  slight  variance  from  Dr.  Bond,  and 


APPENDIX.  347 

also  from  other  notices  of  him ;  the  day  of  the  baptism  of 
these  children  is  not  usually  entered  in  the  records  of  the 
church,  but  only  the  month.  It  will  be  noticed  from  these 
dates,  that  three  of  the  children  died  subsequent  to  his  birth, 
and  that  but  one,  except  Samuel,  lived  beyond  early  child- 
hood, and  that  one  many  years  his  elder,  rather  than  a  child 
with  him  in  age  and  sympathy. 


E. 

Under  date  of  August  19,  1769,  he  writes  in  his  Journal, — 
"  Came  to  Cambridge  Wednesday,  and  found  I  was  put  with 
Osgood  in  chamber  No.  26,  Hollis  Hall ;  very  good  chamber. 
This  afternoon  I  received  a  copy  of  a  vote  wherein  I  was  or- 
dered to  sit  between  Vassal  and  Murray  ;  it  occasions  con- 
siderable talk.  Some  say  I  bought  it,  others,  I  have  tried  for 
it ;  but  promotion  always  breeds  enemies,  and  envious  ones 
are  the  most  spiteful ;  let  me  be  interested  in  the  Lord,  and 
no  matter  who  is  against  me." 

The  remonstrance  of  his  father  to  the  College  government 
upon  the  subject,  is  referred  to  in  the  Records  of  the  Faculty, 
as  follows,  —  "At  a  meeting  of  the  Tutors  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege, August  18,  1769,  present  Mr.  Eliot,  Mr.  Scales,  Mr. 
Hillyard,  Mr.  Willard  ;  Samuel  Phillips,  of  Andover,  Esquire, 
having  some  time  ago  entered  a  complaint  to  the  President 
and  Tutors,  that  his  son,  Samuel  Phillips,  a  student  at  the 
College,  had  not  his  proper  place  in  the  class  ;  particularly, 
that  he  did  not  rank  with  the  sons  of  those  gentlemen  who 
were  Justices  of  the  Quorum,  when  he  himself  had  been  in 
the  Commissions  of  the  Peace  and  Quorum  unus,  a  longer 
time  than  any  of  them,  —  and  having  had,  from  the  late  Pres- 
ident Holyoke  and  others  in  the  government  of  the  College, 
a  promise,  that  the  records  at  the  Secretary's  office  should  be 


348  APPENDIX. 

consulted,  and  if  it  did  appear  that  there  was  a  mistake,  it 
should  be  rectified: — the  Secretary's  book  having  been  ac- 
cordingly consulted,  it  appeared,  that  Mr.  Phillips  was  put 
into  the  Commission  of  the  Peace  in  the  year  1752,  and  that 
he  was  made  Justice  of  the  Quorum,  November  19,  1761 ; 
that  John  Murray,  Esquire,  (whose  son  is  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  sons  of  the  Justices,)  was  put  into  the  Commission 
of  the  Peace  January,  1754,  and  was  made  Justice  of  the 
Quorum  in  1762. 

"  Therefore,  Voted,  That  Phillips,  son  to  the  above-men- 
tioned Samuel  Phillips,  Esquire,  do  for  the  future  take  his 
place  between  Vassal  and  Murray  —  and  ordered,  that  Mr. 
Eliot,  tutor  to  the  class  in  which  Phillips  is  thus  placed,  do 
deliver  a  copy  of  the  above  vote  to  him." 


F. 

In  connection  with  the  termination  of  the  siege  of  Eos- 
ton,  we  here  insert  some  of  the  congratulations  with  which 
Washington  was  honored,  as  a  fit  contrast  to  his  own 
and  others'  long-continued  discontents  while  it  was  in  pro- 
gress. 

"  The  selectmen  of  Boston  waited  upon  the  General  and 
presented  the  following  address  :  — 

"  May  it  please  your  Excellency,  —  The  selectmen  of 
Boston,  in  behalf  of  themselves  and  fellow-citizens,  with  all 
grateful  respect,  congratulate  your  excellency  on  the  success 
of  your  military  operations,  in  the  recovery  of  this  town 
from  an  enemy,  collected  from  the  once  respected  Britons, 
who,  in  this  instance,  are  characterized  by  malice  and  fraud, 
rapine  and  plunder,  in  every  trace  left  behind  them. 

"  Happy  are  we  that  this  acquisition  has  been  made  with 


APPENDIX.  341 

so  little  effusion  of  human  blood,  which,  next  to  the  Divine 
favor,  permit  us  to  ascribe  to  your  excellency's  wisdom,  evi- 
denced in  every  part  of  this  long  besiegement. 

"  If  it  be  possible  to  enhance  the  noble  feelings  of  that 
person,  who  from  the  most  affluent  enjoyments,  could  throw 
himself  into  the  hardships  of  a  camp,  to  save  his  country, 
uncertain  of  success,  'tis  then  possible  this  victory  will 
heighten  your  excellency's  happiness,  when  you  consider  you 
have  not  only  saved  a  large,  elegant,  and  once  populous  city, 
from  total  destruction,  but  relieved  the  few  wretched  inhabi- 
tants from  all  the  horrors  of  a  besieged  town,  from  the  insults 
and  abuses  of  a  disgraced  and  chagrined  army,  and  restored 
many  inhabitants  to  their  quiet  habitations,  who  had  fled  for 
safety  to  the  bosom  of  their  country.  May  your  excellency 
live  to  see  the  just  rights  of  America  settled  on  a  firm  basis, 
which  felicity  we  sincerely  wish  you ;  and  at  a  late  period, 
may  that  felicity  be  changed  into  happiness  eternal ! 

"  To  his  Excellency,  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  Esq., 

"  General  of  the  United  Forces  in  America." 

On  the  29th  of  March,  the  Provincial  Congress  sent  in  from 
Watertown,  a  joint  committee  of  the  Council  and  Represen- 
tatives, with  a  long  and  flattering  testimonial.  It  alluded  to 
the  early  resistance  of  this  Colony  to  the  tyrannical  policy 
"  impelled  by  self-preservation  and  the  love  of  freedom : " 
to  the  satisfaction  at  the  appointment  of  Washington  to  be 
commander-in-chief ;  to  the  wisdom,  and  prudence,  and  suc- 
cess of  his  measures  ;  and  it  concluded  as  follows :  —  "  May 
you  still  go  on,  approved  by  Heaven,  revered  by  all  good 
men,  and  dreaded  by  those  tyrants  who  claim  their  fellow 
men  as  their  property.  May  the  United  Colonies  be  defended 
from  slavery  by  your  victorious  arms.  May  they  still  see 
their  enemies  flying  before  you ;  and  (the  deliverance  of  your 
country  being  effected)  may  you,  in  retirement,  enjoy  that 
peace  and  satisfaction  of  mind  which  always  attend  the  good 
and  great ;  and  may  future  generations,  in  the  peaceable  en- 
30 


350  APPENDIX. 

joyment  of  that  freedom  the  exercise  of  which  your  sword 
shall  have  established,  raise  the  richest  and  most  lasting  mon- 
uments to  the  name  of  Washington." 

The  Continental  Congress  heard  of  the  evacuation  of 
Boston  on  the  25th,  and  "immediately,  on  the  motion  of 
John  Adams,  passed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Washington,  and 
the  officers  and  soldiers  under  his  command,  for  their  wise 
and  spirited  conduct,  and  ordered  a  gold  medal  to  be  struck 
and  presented  to  the  General;  —  also  appointed  a  committee, 
consisting  of  John  Adams,  John  Jay,  and  Stephen  Hopkins, 
to  prepare  a  letter  of  thanks.  This  letter  was  reported  to 
Congress  and  adopted  April  2,  namely :  — 

"PHILADELPHIA,  April  2,  1776. 

"  SIR,  —  It  gives  me  the  most  sensible  pleasure  to  convey 
to  you,  by  order  of  Congress,  the  only  tribute  which  a  free 
people  will  ever  consent  to  pay,  —  the  tribute  of  thanks  and 
gratitude  to  their  friends  and  benefactors. 

"  The  disinterested  and  patriotic  principles  which  led  you 
to  the  field,  have  also  led  you  to  glory ;  and  it  affords  no  lit- 
tle consolation  to  your  countrymen  to  reflect,  that  as  a  pecu- 
liar greatness  of  mind  induced  you  to  decline  any  compensa- 
tion for  serving  them,  except  the  pleasure  of  promoting  their 
happiness,  they  may,  without  your  permission,  bestow  upon 
you  the  largest  share  of  their  affection  and  esteem. 

"  Those  pages  in  the  annals  of  America  will  record  your 
title  to  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  temple  of  fame,  which 
shall  inform  posterity  that,  under  your  directions,  an  undisci- 
plined band  of  husbandmen,  in  the  course  of  a  few  months, 
became  soldiers ;  and  that  the  desolation  meditated  against 
the  country  by  a  brave  army  of  veterans,  commanded  by  the 
most  experienced  generals,  but  employed  by  bad  men,  in  the 
worst  of  causes,  was,  by  the  fortitude  of  your  troops,  and  the 
address  of  their  officers,  next  to  the  kind  interposition  of 
Providence,  confined  for  near  a  year  within  such  narrow  lim- 


APPENDIX.  351 

its  as  scarcely  to  admit  more  room  than  was  necessary  for 
the  encampments  and  fortifications  they  lately  abandoned. 

"  Accept,  therefore,  Sir,  the  thanks  of  the  United  Colonies, 
unanimously  declared  by  their  delegates  to  be  due  to  you, 
and  the  brave  officers  and  troops  under  your  command ;  and 
be  pleased  to  communicate  to  them  this  distinguished  mark 
of  the  approbation  of  their  country. 

"  The  Congress  have  ordered  a  gold  medal,  adapted  to  the 
occasion,  to  be  struck,  and,  when  finished,  to  be  presented 
to  you. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  every  sentiment  of  esteem, 
Sir,  your  most  obedient  and  very  humble  servant, 

"  JOHN  HANCOCK,  President. 

"  To  His  Excellency,  GEORGE  WASHINGTON." 

The  medal,  which  was  struck  in  Paris,  from  a  die  cut  by 
Duvivier,  contains  on  the  obverse  a  head  of  Washington  in 
profile,  exhibiting  an  excellent  likeness,  and  around  it  the 
inscription, 

"  GEORGIO    WASHINGTON,  SUPREMO    DUCI    EXERCITUUM   ADSERTORI 
LIBERTATIS  COMITIA  AMERICANA." 

On  the  reverse  is  the  town  of  Boston  in  the  distance,  with 
a  fleet  in  view  under  sail.  Washington  and  his  officers  are 
on  horseback  in  the  foreground,  and  he  is  pointing  to  the 
ships  as  they  depart  from  the  harbor.  The  inscription  is  :  — 

"  HOSTIBUS    PRIMO  FUGATIS    BOSTONIUM    RECUPERATUM,  XVII.  MARTII, 
MDCCLXXVI."  l 

Among  other  testimonials  which  he  received  at  this  time, 
the  Corporation  and  Overseers  of  Harvard  University  con- 
ferred upon  Washington  the  Honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Laws,  "  as  an  expression  of  the  gratitude  of  this  College  for 
his 'eminent  services  in  the  cause  of  his  country,  and  to  this 
society."  He  was  the  first  person  on  whom  the  College  con- 

*  Spark's  Works  of  Washington,  Vol.  I.  p.  175;  Vol.  III.  p.  533,  534; 
also  Frothingham's  History  of  the  Siege  of  Boston,  p.  316-320. 


352  APPENDIX. 

ferred  this  degree.  The  diploma  "was  signed  by  all  the 
members  of  the  Corporation,  except  John  Hancock,  who  was 
then  in  Philadelphia,  and  it  was  immediately  published  in 
the  newspapers  of  the  period,  with  an  English  translation." 1 

The  diploma  is  as  follows  :  — 

"  Senatus  Academiae  Cantabrigiensis  in  Nov.  Anglia  omni- 
bus in  Christo  fidelibus,  ad  quos  literae  praesentes  pervenerint, 
salutem  in  Domino  sempiternam. 

"  Cum  eurn  in  finem  Gradus  Academici  instituti  fuerint, 
ut  Viri  Scientia,  sapientia,  etvirtute  insignes.  qui  de  Re  liter- 
aria  et  de  Re  Publica  optime  meruerint,  honoribus  hisce  lau- 
reatis  remunerarenter ;  maxime  decet  ut  honore  tali  afficiatur 
Vir  illustrissimus  Georgius  Washington,  Armiger  Exercitus 
Coloniarum  in  America  Foederatarum  Imperator  proaclarus. 
cujus  scientia  et  amor  patriae  undique  patent  ;  qui  propter 
eximias  virtutes  tarn  civiles  quam  militares,  primum,  a  civi- 
bus  suis  Legatus  electus,  in  Consessu  celeberrimo  Americano 
de  Libertate  ad  extremum  periclitata,  et  de  Salute  public^, 
fideliter  et  peritissime  consuluit;  deinde,  postulante  Patria, 
sedem  in  Virginia  arnoenissimam  et  res  proprias  perlubenter 
reliquit,  ut  per  omnes  castrorum  labores  et  pericula,  nulla 
mercede  accepta,  Nov-Angliam  ab  armis  Britannorum  iniquis 
et  crudelibus  liberaret,  et  Colonias  cameras  tuereter ;  et  qui, 
sub  Auspiciis  Divinis  maxime  Spectandis,  ab  Urbe  Bostoni& 
per  undecim  menses  clausa,  munita,  et  plusquam  septem 
millium  militum  prassidio  firmata,  naves  et  copias  hostium  in 
fugam  praecipitem  et  probrosam  deturbavit ;  adeo  ut  cives, 
plurimis  duritiis  et  saevitiis  oppressi,  tandem  salvi  laetentur, 
villae  vicinae  quiescant,  atque  sedibus  suis  Academia  nostra 
restituatur. 

"  Sciatis  igitur,  quod  nos  Praeses  et  socii  Collegii  Harvar- 
dini  in  Cantabridgia  Nov-Anglorum  (consentientibus  hono- 
randis  admodum  et  reverendis  Academiae  nostra  Inspectori- 
bus)  Dominum  supradictum,  summo  honore  dignum,  Geor- 

1  Quincy's  History  of  Harvard  University,  Vol.  II.  p.  167. 


APPENDIX.  353 

gium  Washington,  Doctorem  Utriusque  Juris,  turn  Naturae 
et  Gentium,  turn  Civilis,  statuimus  et  creavimus,  eique  simul 
dedimus  et  concessimus  omnia  jura,  privilegia,  et  honores  ad 
istum  gradum  pertinentia. 

"  In  cujus  rei  testimonium  nos,  communi  sigillo  Universi- 
tatis  hisce  literis  affixo,  chirograph  a  apposuimus  die  tertio 
Aprilis,  anno  salutis  millesimo  septingentesimo  septuagesimo 
sexto."1 


G. 

To  assist  any  who  may  feel  an  interest  in  tracing  out  the 
localities  of  so  early  a  period  here,  we  insert  brief  memo- 
randa of  the  deeds,  not  only  of  the  territory  first  purchased 
by  the  Founders  of  the  Academy,  but  of  various  later  pur- 
chases, covering  together  the  entire  tract  on  "  Andover 
Hill."  The  references  are  to  the  Treasurer's  files  in  Phillips 
Academy :  — 

I.  January  24,  1777:  Deed  A,  copy. 
Solomon  Wardwell  to  Samuel  Phillips,  Esq. 
This  deed  covers  two  tracts ;  the  first,  of  about  twenty- 
two  acres,  on  which  was  an  old  house  and  a  joiner's  shop, 
lying  on  the  west  side  of  our  Main  street,  and  extending 
along  the  line  of  the  old  road,  as  the  Targe  elms  now  stand, 
from  the  corner  of  Phillips  street,  southwardly,  nearly  to  the 
old  well  on  the  common,  south-east  of  the  Printing-house ; 
and  westwardly  on  Phillips  street,  to  a  point  nearly  opposite 
the  old  house,  west  of  the  Latin  Dormitories :  —  the  second, 
of  about  seventeen  acres,  lying  on  the  east  side  of  the  old 
road,  and  including  the  whole  space  from  a  point  by  the 
road  nearly  opposite  the  President's  House,  so-called,  north- 

1  Quincy's  History  of  Harvard  University,  Vol.  II.    Appendix,  No.  XIX. 
p.  506,  507. 

30* 


354  APPENDIX. 

westerly  down  to  the  double-brick  house,  thence  easterly  by 
the  Stone  Academy,  around  to  a  point  near  Bartlett  Hall ; 
and  thence,  by  an  irregular  line  westerly,  across  the  Semi- 
nary Lawn  to  the  road  again. 

,      II.  March  1,  1777:  Deed  B,  copy. 

Joshua  Holt,  Administrator  on  JEstate  of  George  Abbott,  to  Samuel 

Phillips,  Esq. 

This  deed  conveys  three  parcels ;  the  first,  of  twelve  acres, 
lying  north  of  Phillips  street,  and  west  of  Main  and  School 
streets,  extending  northerly  toward  the  Village  nearly  to  the 
English  Dormitories,  and  westerly  a  short  distance  beyond 
the  old  house,  by  the  Latin  Dormitories.  This  old  house 
was  the  dwelling  of  George  Abbott,  and  was  occupied  as 
mentioned  in  the  text,  for  some  years,  by  Judge  Phillips, 
after  its  purchase  for  the  school :  —  the  second,  of  twenty- 
eight  acres,  lying  across  the  road  from  this  old  house, 
and  west  of  the  first  piece  obtained  from  Solomon  Ward- 
well  :  —  the  third,  of  thirty  acres,  lying  beyond  the  Hill  on 
the  south,  and  extending  from  a  point  near  Mrs.  Flagg's 
east,  about  forty  rods,  then  south  to  the  old  cross  road,  then 
westerly  along  this  road  to  a  point  near  Samuel  Abbott's, 
then  northerly  to  the  road  near  Moses  Abbott's,  and  then 
northeasterly  by  this  road  to  the  point  of  beginning. 

in.   October  9,  1784:  Deed  No.  9. 
Isaac  Blunt  to  the   Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy. 

This  deed  describes  the  common  opposite  the  Mansion 
House,  called  the  "  Old  Training  Field,"  twenty-two  rods 
southerly  from  the  corner  by  the  old  road,  eighteen  and  three- 
quarter  rods  easterly  on  the  Salem  road.  The  deed  in  this 
case  is  to  the  Trustees,  but  an  entry  in  the  Academy  journal 
shows  that  the  land  was  bought  by  the  three  brothers,  Sam- 
uel, John,  and  William  Phillips,  in  connection  with  the 
building  of  the  -tf  JVew  Academy  "  about  this  date,  and  was 


APPENDIX.  355 

given  by  them,  with  the  building,  to  the  Trustees.  See  Old 
Academy  Journal,  p.  6,  where  the  language  is  "the  Academy 
and  land  south  of  the  same,  etc." 

IV.  September  1,  1792:  Deed  No.  11. 
Samuel  Phillips  to  the  Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy. 
This  deed  of  Judge  Phillips,  covers  three  and  one-quarter 
acres  in  the  southwesterly  portion  of  the  present  Seminary 
lawn,  being  the  lot  on  which  the  second  Academy  build- 
ing, above  referred  to,  was  erected  by  his  father  and  un- 
cles in  1785.  Mr.  Phillips  had  obtained  this  land,  with 
a  section  east  of  it,  from  William  Foster,  January  15,  1782, 
as  referred  to  in  the  text  (see  Deed  C,  copy).  The  por- 
tion conveyed  by  him  to  the  Trustees,  extended  from  the 
comer  northwesterly  about  twenty  rods,  and  east  twenty 
rods ;  an  entry  in  the  Academy  Journal,  p.  1,  shows  that  he 
deeded  this  lot  to  the  Trustees  in  exchange  for  the  site  of  his 
mansion-house,  one  and  a  half  acres. 

V.  January  10,  1801:  Deed  No.  16. 
Asa  Towne  to  the  Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy. 
This  deed  describes  the  site  of  the  Adams  House,  so-called, 
etc.,  an  acre  and  a  half,  on  which  a  small  dwelling-house  was 
standing,  which  is  now  the  L  of  the  Adams  House,  bound- 
ing on  the  Common  twenty  rods,  and  on  the  Salern  road 
twelve   rods.     The    Adams    House,   as   now   standing,   was 
erected  here  in  1805,  and  was  first  occupied  by  Dr.  Pearson 
in  the  spring  of  1806.  —  Academy  Records^  p.  198. 

VI.   April  15,  1809:  Deed  No.  21. 
Isaac  Blunt  to  the   Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy. 
This  deed  conveys  the  site  of  the  Brick  Academy  and  the 
lot  south,  about  two  and  one  fifth  acres,  bounded  on  the  Sa- 
lem road  eleven  and  a  half  rods. 


356  APPENDIX. 

VII.  June  9,  1812:  Deed  No.  24. 

Phoebe  Phillips  to  the  Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy. 
This  deed  conveys  the  mansion-house  of  Judge  Phillips 
with  about  nine  acres  of  land  adjoining  the  same,  extend- 
ing on  the  street  southerly  to  the  premises  occupied  by 
the  late  Professor  Stuart  ;  also  the  Blanchard  Lot  and 
House,  so-called,  now  in  the  Seminary  lawn,  containing 
about  three  acres,  extending  northward  to  include  the 
present  site  of  Bartlett  Hall,  being  the  remainder  of  the 
tract  obtained  by  Mr.  Phillips  of  William  Foster  (Deed  C, 
copy).  All  the  land  now  common  between  the  Mansion- 
house,  Printing-house,  etc.,  and  the  row  of  large  elms  in 
front,  then  within  the  fence,  was  thrown  out  by  Mr.  Farrar 
at  a  later  date,  in  connection  with  the  building  of  the  houses 
for  Dr.  Griffin  and  Dr.  Woods. 

VIII.  July  8,  1814  :  Deed  No.  26. 

The   Trustees  of  the   Ministerial  Fund  in  the  South  Parish  in 
Andover  to  the   Trustees  of  Phillips   Academy. 

This  is  a  deed  of  a  piece  of  land,  sixty  square  rods,  lying 
between  our  Main  and  School  streets,  north-west  of  the  Stone 
Academy ;  in  the  change  of  the  old  road  now  School  street, 
a  portion  of  this  tract  was  cut  off;  the  deed  bounds  it  four- 
teen rods  on  the  turnpike  now  Main  street. 

IX.  April  1,  1815:  Deed  No.  29. 

Samuel  Farrar  to  the  Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy. 
This  is  a  deed  of  "  the  Chandler  Pasture,"  as  it  was  long 
termed ;  a  tract  of  seven  and  a  half  acres,  north  and  east  of 
the  Stone  Academy,  bounded  on  Main  street  northerly  nine 
rods,  and  on  the  private  way  easterly  about  thirty-six  rods, 
including  the  sites  of  the  Samaritan  House  and  Professor 
Stowe's  residence.  Mr.  Farrar  had  purchased  this  lot  a  year 
or  two  previous  on  his  own  account,  but  with  a  view  to  its 
passing  finally  to  the  Trustees. 


APPENDIX.  357 

X.    August  30,  1815  :  Deed  No.  27. 

Benjamin  Gleason  to  the  Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy. 
This  deed  conveys  the  Gleason  House,  so  called,  now  oc- 
cupied by  Dr.  S.  C.  Jackson,  with  the  land,  bounded  on 
Main  street  northerly  from  the  corner  of  the  Chandler  Pas- 
ture, 23  rods.  This  was  Lot  No.  1  of  the  Parish  lands,  sold 
at  auction  April  18,  1810. 

XL    April  20,  1818:  Deed  No.  30. 

Hannah  Poor  and  Daniel  A.  Poor  to  the  Trustees  of  Phillips 
Academy. 

This  deed  conveys  a  tract  of  a  little  more  than  eight  acres, 
westward  of  the  original  Phillips  purchase  from  the  estate  of 
George  Abbott,  and  on  the  northerly  side  of  Phillips  street, 
bounded  on  Academy  street  forty -two  rods :  this  section  in- 
cludes the  present  site  of  the  West  House,  so  called,  and  the 
three  adjoining  lots  north  and  west  of  the  same. 

XII.  April  29,  1818  :  Deed  No.  31. 
Mark  Newman  to  the  Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy. 
This  deed  covers  the  Brown  Professor's  house  and  lot,  and 
the  site  of  the  book  bindery  and  store  beyond;  containing 
about  two  acres,  being  the  same  lot  of  land  obtained  by 
Mr.  Newman  of  Isaac  Blunt,  March  13,  1805,  on  which  Mr. 
Newman  had  erected  the  dwelling-house  and  store  as  now 
standing.  The  dwelling-house  was  assigned  to  the  Brown 
Professor,  by  vote  of  the  Trustees  in  1843,  in  connection 
with  a  donation  by  Miss  Banister  of  $4,000,  as  an  equiva- 
lent for  the  same. —  Seminary  Records,  Vol.  II.  p.  22. 

XIII.   May  8,  1818:  Deed  No.  39. 

William  Bartlett  to  the  Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy. 
This  deed,  conveys,  (1st)  the  President's  House,  so  called, 
with  the  land  adjoining,  which  Mr.  Bartlett  had  bought  of 
the  Trustees  in  order  to  build  on  it :  (2d)  the  Stuart  House, 


358  APPENDIX. 

and  twelve  and  a  half  acres  of  land  which  he  had  bought  of 
Madam  Phillips,  May  8,  1810,  in  order  to  build  on  it  also ; 
bounded  on  the  street  in  front  fourteen  and  three  fourths  rods. 
This  land  was  part  of  a  purchase  by  Judge  Phillips  of 
Ebenezer  Jones  and  wife,  heirs  of  Samuel  Abbott,  made 
March  19,  1782,  as  he  was  arranging  to  erect  the  mansion- 
house  (see  Deed  Z),  copy)  ;  (3d)  a  small  piece  back  of  the 
Seminary,  which  Mr.  Bartlett  bought  of  Isaac  Blunt,  August 
29,  1809;  and  (4th)  the  Chapel. 

XIV.   August  16,  1820:  Deed  No.  36. 
Isaac  Blunt  to  the  Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy. 
This  is  a  deed  of  a  small  lot  of  two  and  a  half  acres  back 
of  the  Seminary,  now  included  in  the  Garden  and  Cemetery. 

XV.    September  6,  1823  :  Deed  38. 
Isaac  Blunt  to  the  Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy. 
This  is  a  deed  of  about  two  and  a  half  acres  northerly  of 
the  Seminary. 

XVI.  March  23.  1824  :  Deed  No.  37. 
Amos  Holt  to  the  Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy. 
This  deed  covers  the  narrow  strip  of  land  between  the 
two  streets  beyond  the  Printing-house,  which  is  to  be  kept  as 
a  common,  upon  which  Mr.  Holt  was  preparing  to  erect  a 
cooper's  shop :  and  also  a  small  section  nearly  in  front  of  the 
double  brick  house,  between  the  turnpike  and  the  line  of  the 
old  road,  on  which  Levi  Davis  attempted  at  one  time  to 
build  a  three  story  house  with  brick  ends,  but  a  violent  wind 
prostrated  the  building,  when  Mr.  Davis  sold  the  lot  to  Mr. 
Holt. 

XVII.   December  1,  1829:  Deed  No.  44. 
Jonathan  Clement  to  the  Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy. 
This  deed  conveys  the  Clement  House,  so  called,  and  land 


APPENDIX.  339 

adjoining,  about  three  and  a  half  acres,  on  which  the  English 
Dormitories  now  stand,  including  the  avenue  in  front  of  them 
to  the  road,  and  the  lot  north  and  west. 

XVIII.  March  25,  1831 :  Deed  No.  46. 
Isaac  Blunt  to  the  Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy. 
This  deed  conveys  fifteen  and  a  half  acres  east  and  north- 
east of  the  Seminary,  adjoining  lots  previously  sold  by  Mr. 
Blunt  to  the  Trustees. 

XIX.   December  24, 1825 :  Deed  No.  68. 
Leonard  Woods  to  the  Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy. 
This  is  a  deed  of  two  and  a  third  acres,  north-east  of  the 
Seminary,  which   Dr.   Woods   had   bought   of    Mr.   Blunt, 
September  7,  1819. 

XX.  October  12,  1830:  Deed  No.  51. 
Isaac  Blunt  to  the  Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy. 

This  is  a  deed  of  "  the  gravel  pit,"  being  the  tract  directly 
south  of  the  Cemetery  and  Garden,  about  an  acre  and  one 
third. 

XXI.  March  15,  1833  :  Deed  No.  55. 
David  Hidden  to  the  Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy. 

This  is  a  deed  of  a  pasture,  upwards  of  nine  acres,  back 
of  the  premises  occupied  by  the  late  Professor  Stuart,  and  is 
appropriated  to  the  Brown  Professorship. 

XXII.    September  22,  1853:  Deed  No.  71. 
Henry  J.  Gray  to  the  Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy. 
This  deed  conveys  the  Gray  House,  so  called,  on  the  point 
between    Main   and    School    streets,    opposite   the    Gleason 
House ;  and  completes  the  title  of  the  Trustees  to  all  lands 
adjoining  the  highways  across  the  hill  in  every  direction. 


360  APPENDIX. 

The  remaining  portions  of  the  tract  of  pasturage  north 
and  north-east  of  the  Seminary  along  the  line  of  Pike  street 
including  the  woodland,  in  that  region,  carne  to  the  Trustees, 
through  the  estate  of  Henry  Abbot,  under  a  mortgage  of 
Samuel  Abbott,  Esquire,  which  had  been  foreclosed. 


H. 

One  peculiarity  of  the  Act,  incorporating  the  Academy,  is 
the  summary  rehearsal  of  its  Constitution  which  it  embodies, 
while  the  whole  is  made  to  conform  so  exactly  to  Judge  Phil- 
lips's  style  as  well  as  to  his  views,  that  no  other  evidence  of 
its  authorship  is  needed.  We  insert  the  Act  with  the  various 
signatures. 

1780  — Oct.  4. 

STATE  OF  MASSACHUSETTS  BAY  —  AN  ACT  TO  INCORPORATE  AN 
ACADEMY  IN  THE  TOWN  OF  ANDOVER,  BY  THE  NAME  OF 
PHILLIPS  ACADEMY. 

Preamble. 

WHEREAS  the  education  of  youth  has  ever  been  consid- 
ered by  the  wise  and  good,  as  an  object  of  the  highest  con- 
sequence to  the  safety  and  happiness  of  a  people ;  as  at  that 
period  the  mind  easily  receives  and  retains  impressions,  is 
formed  with  peculiar  advantage  to  piety  and  virtue,  and  di- 
rected to  the  pursuit  of  the  most  useful  knowledge:  and, 
whereas  the  Honorable  Samuel  Phillips  of  Andover,  in  the 
County  of  Essex,  Esq.,  and  the  Honorable  John  Phillips  of 
Exeter,  in  the  County  of  Rockingham,  and  State  of  New 
Hampshire,  Esq.,  on  the  first  day  of  April,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-eight,  by  a 
legal  Instrument  of  that  date,  gave,  granted,  and  assigned  to 


APPENDIX.  361 

the  Honorable  William  Phillips,  Esquire,  and  others,  therein 
named,  and  to  their  heirs,  divers  lots  and  parcels  of  land,  in 
said  Instrument  described,  as  well  as  certain  other  estate,  to 
the  use  and  upon  the  trust  following,  namely,  that  the  rents, 
profits,  and  interest  thereof,  be  forever  laid  out  and  expended 
by  the  Trustees  in  the  said  Instrument  named,  for  the  sup- 
port of  a  Public  Free  School  or  Academy,  in  the  town  of 
Andover :  —  and,  whereas  the  execution  of  the  generous  and 
important  design  of  the  grantors  aforesaid  will  be  attended 
with  very  great  embarrassments,  unless  by  an  act  of  incorpo- 
ration, the  Trustees,  mentioned  in  the  said  Instrument,  and 
their  successors,  shall  be  authorized  to  commence  and  prose- 
cute actions  at  law,  and  transact  such  other  matters  in  their 
corporate  capacity,  as  the  interest  of  the  said  Academy  shall 
require :  — 

Academy  Established. 

I.  Be  it  therefore  enacted  by  the  Council  and  House  of 
Representatives  in  General  Court  assembled,  and  by  the  au- 
thority of  the  same  ;  that  there  be  and  hereby  is  established 
in  the  Town  of  Andover,  and  County  of  Essex,  an  Academy, 
by  the  name  of  Phillips  Academy,  for  the  purpose  of  promot- 
ing true  piety  and  virtue,  and  for  the  education  of  youth,  in 
the  English,  Latin,  and  Greek  languages,  together  with  Writ- 
ing, Arithmetic,  Music,  and  the  Art  of  Speaking ;  also  prac- 
tical Geometry,  Logic,  and  Geography,  and  such   other  of 
the  liberal  Arts  and  Sciences,  or  Languages,  as  opportunity 
may  hereafter  permit,  and  as  the  Trustees,  hereinafter  pro- 
vided, shall  direct. 

Trustees  Appointed  and  Incorporated. 

II.  Be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that 
the  Hon.   Samuel   Phillips  of   Andover  aforesaid,  Esq.,  the 
Hon.  John  Phillips  of  Exeter  aforesaid,  Esq.,  the  Hon.  Wil- 
liam Phillips  and  Oliver  Wendell,  Esqs.,  and  John  Lowell, 
Esq.,  of  Boston,  in  the  County  of  Suffolk,  and  State  of  Mas- 

31 


362  APPENDIX. 

sachusetts  Bay,  the  Rev.  Josiah  Stearns  of  Epping,  in  the 
County  of  Rockingham  aforesaid,  the  Reverend  William 
Symmes  of  said  Andover,  the  Reverend  Elias  Smith  of 
Middleton,  in  the  said  County  of  Essex,  the  Reverend  Jona- 
than French,  Samuel  Phillips,  Jun'r,  Esq.,  Mr.  Eliphalet 
Pearson,  gentlemen,  and  Mr.  Nehemiah  Abbot,  yeoman,  all 
of  Andover  aforesaid,  be,  and  they  hereby  are  nominated  and 
appointed  Trustees  of  said  Academy ;  and  they  are  hereby 
incorporated  into  a  body  politic,  by  the  name  of  the  Trustees 
of  Phillips  Academy;  and  that  they,  and  their  successors, 
shall  be  and  continue  a  body  politic  and  corporate,  by  the 
same  name  forever. 

Lands  Confirmed  to  the  Trustees. 

III.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid, 
that  all  the  lands  and  monies,  which,  by  a  legal  Instrument, 
bearing  date  the  first  day  of  April,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord, 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-eight,  were  given, 
granted,  and  assigned,  by  the  afore-mentioned  Samuel  Phil- 
lips and  John  Phillips,  unto  the  said  William  Phillips,  Oli- 
ver Wendell,  John  Lowell,  Josiah  Stearns,  William  Symmes, 
Elias  Smith,  Jonathan  French,  Samuel  Phillips,  Jun'r,  Eli- 
phalet Pearson,  and  Nehemiah  Abbot,  and  to  their  heirs,  be, 
and  they  hereby  are  confirmed  to  the  said  William  Phillips 
and  others,  last  named,  and   to  their  successors,  as  Trustees 
of  Phillips  Academy  forever,  for  the  uses  and  purposes,  and 
upon  the   Trust,'  which  in   said   Instrument  are  expressed : 
and  the  Trustees  aforesaid,  their  successors,  and  the  officers 
of  the  said  Academy,  are  hereby  required  in  conducting  the 
concerns  thereof,  and  in  all  matters  relating  thereto,  to  regu- 
late themselves  conformably  to  the  true  design  and  intention 
of  the  said  grantors,  as  expressed  in  their  instrument  above 
mentioned. 

Trustees  to  have  one  common  Seal.  —  May  Sue  and  be  Sued. 

IV.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid, 


APPENDIX.  363 

that  the  said  Trustees  and  their  successors,  shall  have  one 
common  Seal,  which  they  may  make  use  of  in  any  cause  or 
business  that  relates  to  the  said  office  of  Trustees  of  the  said 
Academy ;  and  they  shall  have  power  and  authority  to  break, 
change,  and  renew  the  said  Seal,  from  time  to  time,  as  they 
shall  see  fit ;  and  that  they  may  Sue  and  be  Sued  in  all  ac- 
tions real,  personal,  and  mixed,  and  prosecute  and  defend  the 
same  unto  final  judgment  and  execution,  by  the  name  of  the 
Trustees  of  Phillips  Academy. 

Empowered  to  Elect  their  Officers,  and  Ordain  Kules,  etc. 

V.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid, 
that  the  said  Samuel  Phillips  and  others,  the  Trustees  afore- 
said, and  their  successors,  the  longest  livers  and  survivors  of 
them,  be  the  true  and  sole  Visitors,  Trustees,  and  Governors 
of  the  said  Phillips  Academy,  in  perpetual  succession  forever ; 
to  be  continued  in  the  way  and  manner  hereafter  specified, 
with  full  power  and  authority  to  elect  such  officers  of  the 
said  Academy,  as  to  them,  the  said  Trustees,  Governors,  and 
Visitors  aforesaid,  and  their  successors,  shall  from  time  to 
time,  according  to  the  various  occasions  and  circumstances 
seem  most  fit  and  requisite ;  all  which  shall  be  observed  by 
the  officers,  scholars,  and  servants  of  the  said  Academy,  upon 
the  penalties  therein  contained:  provided  notwithstanding, 
that  the  said  rules,  laws,  and  orders  be  no  ways  contrary  to 
the  laws  of  this  State. 

Number  of  Trustees  not  to  exceed  thirteen. 

VL  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid, 
that  the  number  of  the  Trustees  aforesaid,  and  their  suc- 
cessors, shall  not  at  any  one  time  be  more  than  thirteen  nor 
less  than  seven;  seven  of  whom  shall  constitute  a  quorum 
for  transacting  business,  and  the  major  part  of  the  members 
present  at  any  legal  meeting,  shall  decide  all  questions  that 
shall  come  before  them,  except  in  the  instances  hereinaftei 
excepted. 


364  APPENDIX. 

The  principal  Instructor  to  be  one. 

That  the  principal  Instructor  for  the  time  being,  shall  ever 
be  one  of  them ;  that  a  major  part  shall  be  laymen  and  re- 
spectable freeholders  ;  also,  that  a  major  part  shall  consist  of 
men  who  are  not  inhabitants  of  the  town  where  the  Sem- 
inary is  situate.  And  to  perpetuate  the  succession  of  said 
Trustees. 

Vacancies  of  Trustees,  how  supplied. 

VII.  Be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that 
as  often   as  one  or  more  of  the   Trustees  of  said   Phillips 
Academy  shall  die  or  resign,  or  in  the  judgment  of  a  major 
part  of  the  other  Trustees  be  rendered  by  age  or  otherwise, 
incapable  of  discharging  the  duties  of  his  office,  then,  and  so 
often,  the   Trustees   then    surviving  and  remaining,  or  the 
major  part  of  them,  shall  elect  one  or  more  persons  to  supply 
the  vacancy  or  vacancies. 

The  Trustees  to  be  deemed  capable  in  the  law  to  take  and  receive  by  gift, 

grant,  etc. 

VIII.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid, 
that  the  Trustees  aforesaid,  and  their  successors,  be  and  they 
hereby  are  rendered  capable  in  law  to  take  and  receive  by 
gift,  grant,  devise,  bequest,  or  otherwise,  any  lands,  tenements, 
or  other  estate,  real  and  personal ;  provided  that  the  annual 
income  of  the  said  real  estate  shall  not  exceed  the  sum  of 
five  hundred  pounds,  and  the  annual  income  of  the  said  per- 
sonal  estate    shall   not   exceed   the   sum   of  two   thousand 
pounds,  both   sums  to  be  valued  in  silver  at  the  rate  of  six 
shillings  and  eight  pence  by  the  ounce ;  to  have  and  to  hold 
the  same  to  them,  the  said  Trustees  and  their  successors,  on 
such  terms  and  under  such   provisions  and  limitations,  as 
may  be  expressed  in  any  deed  or  instrument  of  conveyance 
to  them  made ;  provided  always,  that  neither  the  said  Trus- 
tees, nor  their  successors,  shall  ever  hereafter  receive  any 


APPENDIX.  365 

grant  or  donation,  the  condition  whereof  shall  require  them 
or  any  others  concerned,  to  act  in  any  respect  counter  to  the 
design  of  the  first  grantors,  or  of  any  prior  donation.  And 
all  deeds  and  instruments,  which  the  said  Trustees  may  law- 
fully make,  shall,  when  made  in  the  name  of  the  said  Trus- 
tees, and  signed  and  delivered  by  their  Treasurer,  and  sealed 
with  the  common  seal,  bind  the  said  Trustees  and  their  suc- 
cessors, and  be  valid  in  law. 

Two  thirds  of  said  Trustees  empowered  to  remove  the  Seminary. 

IX.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid, 
that  if  it  shall  hereafter  be  judged,  upon  mature  and  impartial 
consideration  of  all  circumstances,  by  two  thirds  of  all  the 
Trustees,  that,  for  good  and  substantial  reasons,  which  at  this 
time  do  not  exist,  the  true  design  of  this  Institution  will  be 
better  promoted  by  removing  the  Seminary  from  the  place 
where  it  is  founded,  in  that  case  it  shall  be  in  the  power  of 
the  said  Trustees,  to  remove  it  accordingly,  and  to  establish 
it  in  such  place  within  this  State  as  they  shall  judge  to  be 
best  calculated  for  carrying  into  effectual  execution  the  inten- 
tion of  the  founders.1 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  October  4,  1780. 
This  Bill   having  been  read   several  times,  passed  to  be 
enacted.  JOHN  HANCOCK,  Speaker. 

In  Council,  October  4,  1780. 

This  Bill  having  had  two  several  readings,  passed  to  be 
enacted.  JOHN  AVERT,  D.  Secretary. 

We  consent  to  the  enacting  of  this  bill. 

S.  GUSHING,          T.  DANIELSON,          SAMUEL  NILES, 
J.  FISHER,  BENJ.  AUSTIN,          A.  FULLER, 

MOSES  GILL,         N.  GUSHING,  JNO.  PITTS, 

H.  GARDNER,        WM.  WHITING,        STEPHEN  CHOATE. 

1  Acts  and  Laws  of  Massachusetts,  1780,  p.  327-329. 

31* 


366  APPENDIX. 

The  above  subscription,  and  also  the  caption  to  the  Act 
Incorporating  the  Academy,  is  copied  from  the  original  docu- 
ment on  file  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  in  Boston. 
The  Preamble  there  stands  in  the  handwriting  of  Judge 
Phillips,  and  also  the  first  enacting  clause  in  part.  The  re- 
mainder of  the  manuscript  is  partly  in  his  hand,  and  partly 
in  that  of  two  others. 


The  following  letter  from  the  present  Principal  of  the 
Exeter  Academy,  in  reply  to  inquiries  recently  addressed  to 
him,  will  be  read  with  interest  for  the  information  it  sum- 
marily presents,  in  regard  to  the  history  and  the  present  con- 
dition of  this  Institution. 

"  PHILLIPS  EXETER  ACADEMY,  Exeter,  June  22,  1856. 

"  DEAR  SIR, —  I  have  been  prevented  from  attending  sooner 
to  the  inquiries  contained  in  your  letter ;  I  must  now  be  brief 
in  my  answers. 

"  1.  The  Act  of  Incorporation  of  the  Phillips  Exeter  Acad- 
emy is  dated  April  3,  1781. 

"  2.  A  meeting  of  the  Trustees  was  held  on  the  31  st  of 
April,  1783 ;  and  Benjamin  Thurston  was  '  appointed  to  ad- 
dress the  Preceptor  on  his  induction  to  his  academical  func- 
tion,' and  the  meeting  was  adjourned  till  the  next  day,  when, 
May  1st,  1783,  I  suppose  the  Preceptor,  William  Wood- 
bridge,  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office.  There  is  a 
tradition  that  the  school  had  been  in  operation  some  weeks 
before,  conducted  by  one  of  the  Trustees,  but  no  record  of  it. 

"  3.  I  am  not  able  to  say  what  was  the  cost  of  the  original 
Academy  buildings.  The  first  building  was  sold ;  and  the 
present  must  have  cost  from  seven  to  ten  thousand  dollars. 


APPENDIX.  367 

In  1821,  wings  were  added  to  this  building  at  a  cost  of 
about  twenty-five  hundred  dollars.  '  Abbot  Hall/  a  substan- 
tial and  exceedingly  convenient  building,  has  been  erected 
within  the  last  year.  This  building  is  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  the  poorer  class  of  students.  It  is  a  boarding-house, 
accommodating  fifty  students  with  very  good  rooms  without 
rent.  The  cost  of  this  building  was  about  eighteen  thousand 
dollars.  The  amount  expended  for  buildings,  up  to  the  pres- 
ent time,  must  be  nearly  thirty  thousand  dollars,  including 
the  house  occupied  by  the  Principal. 

"  4.  Nothing  has  been  received,  in  addition  to  the  original 
endowment,  for  the  general  purposes  of  the  Institution.  One 
thousand  dollars  was  left  by  the  late  Nicholas  Oilman  for 
instruction  in  sacred  music ;  and  one  hundred  dollars  by  the 
late  Leverett  Saltonstall  of  Salem,  Massachusetts,  for  the 
Library. 

"  The  present  amount  of  productive  funds  may  be  stated, 
in  round  numbers,  at  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  perhaps 
a  little  less. 

"  5.  Whole  number  of  pupils,  twenty-nine  hundred. 

"  6.  A  marble  slab,  with  an  appropriate  inscription,  covers 
the  grave  of  the  Founder.  There  is  no  written  memorial  of 
him.  Neither  the  Act  of  Incorporation,  nor  the  Constitution 
of  the  Academy,  has  ever  been  printed. 

"  In  great  haste,  very  respectfully, 

"  GIDEON  L.  SOULE." 


J. 

The  record  of  the  action  of  the  Trustees  on  this  occasion, 
dated  March  29,  1788,  is  as  follows  :  — 

"  Understanding  it  is  proposed  that  the  meeting-house  in 
this  place  should  be  taken  down, — 

"  Voted,  That  the  inhabitants  of  the  South  Parish  be  in- 


368  APPENDIX. 

formed,  that  they  shall  be  welcome  to  the  use  of  the  Acade- 
my chamber  for  the  purpose  of  public  worship,  after  the 
present  meeting-house  shall  be  taken  down,  until  the  meet- 
ing-house, that  shall  be  erected  in  its  place,  can  be  fit  for  use, 
if  agreeable  to  the  parish. 

"  Voted,  That  the  Honorable  Samuel  Phillips,  Jr.,  be  a 
committee  to  communicate  the  above  vote  to  the  parish." l 

The  old  meeting-house,  as  appears  from  the  church  records, 
was  occupied  for  the  last  time  April  2.0,  1788,  when  Rev.  Mr. 
French  preached  from  Haggai  i.  7  and  8 :  "  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts,  consider  your  ways ;  go  up  to  the  mountain 
and  bring  wood,  and  build  the  house  ;  and  1  will  take  pleas- 
ure in  it,  and  I  will  be  glorified,  saith  the  Lord."  The  new 
house  was  raised  on  the  26th  and  27th  of  May ;  and,  after 
occupying  the  Academy  Hall  thirty-two  Sabbaths,  the  pastor 
preached  a  discourse  at  the  opening  of  this  new  church,  on 
the  Lord's  day,  December  7th,  from  the  text  John  x.  22,  23 : 
"  And  it  was  at  Jerusalem  the  feast  of  the  dedication,  and 
it  was  winter ;  And  Jesus  walked  in  the  Temple" 


K. 

In  the  Chronicle  of  June  19,  1788,  and  in  succeeding  issues 
of  that  paper,  the  following  advertisement  was  printed,  and 
is  here  inserted  as  an  illustration  of  the  care  and  thorough- 
ness of  Judge  Phillips  in  such  services :  — 

"  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts. 

"  The  subscribers,  appointed  a  committee  to  sell  unappro- 
priated lands  belonging  to  the  Commonwealth,  and  lying 
within  the  counties  of  York,  Cumberland,  and  Lincoln,  do 
hereby  notify  the  public  :  — 

1  Academy  Records,  p.  69. 


APPENDIX.  369 

"  That  there  are  for  sale  large  and  valuable  tracts  of  land, 
situated  between  the  Highlands  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  from 
north  to  south;  and  between  the  river  St.  Croix  and  the 
State  of  New  Hampshire,  from  east  to  west.  The  many 
fine  rivers  which  have  their  sources  in  that  tract,  among 
which  are  the  rivers  Kennebec  and  Penobscot,  running  nearly 
parallel,  at  about  forty  miles  distance,  above  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  within  the  country  above  described,  and  navigable 
for  vessels  of  almost  any  burden  for  fifty  miles ;  the  great 
number  of  excellent  harbors  on  the  sea-coast,  their  neighbor- 
hood to  the  fishing-banks  of  Newfoundland ;  the  large  quan- 
tities of  salmon,  shad,  and  alewives  in  the  rivers,  and  the 
great  plenty  of  valuable  pine  and  other  timber,  give  the  fair- 
est prospect  that  this  country  will,  in  a  very  few  years,  become 
the  principal  source  from  whence  the  West  India  Islands  will 
draw  their  supplies.  No  country  is  better  calculated  for  graz- 
ing, and  the  great  improvements  made  in  agriculture  within 
the  last  ten  years,  evidence  that  the  soil  is  exceeding  good, 
and  capable  of  producing  wheat,  rye,  Indian  corn,,  flax,  peas, 
potatoes,  and  every  species  of  vegetables  which  grow  in  any 
of  the  New  England  States.  Besides  lumber,  fish,  and  pot- 
ashes, beef,  butter,  peas,  and  flax-seed  have  already  become 
articles  of  exportation,  and  in  a  few  years  will  be  added 
thereto  cheese,  barley,  hemp,  and  flax.  The  above  lands  will 
be  laid  out  in  townships  of  six  miles  square,  and  will  be 
sold  by  the  township,  half  township,  or  mile  square,  as  may 
best  suit  the  purchaser,  and  the  consolidated  notes  of  this 
Commonwealth  received  in  payment. 

"  When  it  is  considered  that  a  township  of  six  miles  square 
between  the  Kennebec  and  Penobscot,  is  ordered  by  Govern- 
ment to  be  laid  out  and  appropriated  for  the  building  and 
supporting  a  public  Seminary  of  Learning;  that  in  each 
town  there  are  reserved  four  lots  of  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  each  for  public  uses,  and  that  the  lands  are  exempted 
from  all  State  taxes  for  ten  years ;  the  committee  flatter  them- 
selves that  the  most  valuable  tracts  will  find  a  ready  sale. 


370  APPENDIX. 

"  Every  application  will  be  duly  attended  to,  and  every  per- 
son inclined  to  purchase,  as  far  as  possible,  accommodated  by 
applying  to 

"  SAMUEL  PHILLIPS,  Jun.,  at  Andover,  County  of  Essex. 

"  NATHANIEL  WELLS,  at  Wells,  County  of  York. 

"  LEONARD  JARVIS.  at  Boston,  County  of  Suffolk. 

"  JOHN  REED,  at  Roxbury,  County  of  Suffolk. 

"  DANIEL  CONY,  at  Hallowell,  County  of  Lincoln. 

"  N.  B.  Any  of  the  above  lands  will  be  sold  to  any  for- 
eigner who  shall  contract  to  settle  thereon,  in  three  years 
from  the  purchase,  one  or  more  families  to  every  mile  square. 

"Bo/mm,  June  18,  1788." 


The  Resolve  of  the  General  Court,  making  the  grants  of 
land  to  the  several  Institutions,  was  as  follows :  — 

"February  27,  1797. 

"  Resolved,  That  in  pursuance  of  a  report  of  a  joint  spe- 
cial Committee,  which  has  been  accepted  by  both  branches 
of  the  Legislature,  there  be,  and  hereby  is  granted  to  the 
Trustees  of  Dummer  Academy,  to  the  Trustees  of  Phillips 
Academy,  to  the  Trustees  of  Groton  Academy,  and  to  the 
Trustees  of  Westford  Academy,  respectively,  and  to  their  re- 
spective successors,  one  half  township  of  six  miles  square, 
for  each  of  their  Academies,  to  be  laid  out  or  assigned  by  the 
committee  for  the  sale  of  Eastern  lands,  in  some  of  the  un- 
appropriated lands  in  the  district  of  Maine,  belonging  to  this 
Commonwealth,  excepting  all  lands  within  six  miles  of  Pe- 
nobscot  River,  with  the  reservations  and  conditions  of  settle- 
ment which  have  usually  been  made  in  cases  of  similar 
grants ;  which  tracts  the  said  Trustees,  respectively,  are  hereby 


APPENDIX.  371 

empowered  to  use,  sell,  or  dispose  of  as  they  may  think  most 
for  the  benefit  of  their  respective  Institutions. 

"  SAMUEL  ADAMS,  Governor. 

"  SAMUEL  PHILLIPS,  President  of  the  Senate. 

"  EDWARD  H.  ROBBINS,  Speaker. 

"JOHN  AVERY,  Secretary." 


M. 

As  this  Memoir  may,  in  some  cases,  fall  into  the  hands  of 
those  who  are  not  familiar  with  the  character  and  history  of 
the  Theological  Seminary,  we  here  insert  the  Instrument  by 
which  it  was  founded,  and  which  connects  it  so  closely  with 
the  origin  and  progress  of  the  Academy.  It  would  be  di- 
gressing too  far  from  our  proper  work  in  this  Memoir,  to  give 
other  documents  and  statistics  of  great  interest  pertaining  to 
the  Seminary  ;  nor  have  we  sought  to  trace  in  so  very  minute 
detail  as  may  be  desired  by  some,  the  forecastings  of  such 
an  Institution,  in  the  life-long  projects  of  Judge  Phillips  or 
his  associates,  lest  we  should,  in  so  doing,  possibly  appear 
to  ineumber  our  narrative  too  much,  or  to  appropriate  ground, 
which  it  is  expected  will  be  carefully  covered  by  another 
work  —  Dr.  Woods's  History  of  the  Seminary.  Some  inter- 
esting documents,  relating  to  the  historical  and  doctrinal  con- 
nection of  the  two  Institutions,  we  have  not  had  opportunity 
to  use,  as  they  were  previously  tendered  to  Dr.  Woods,  and 
many  incidents  which  have  come  to  our  knowledge,  we  have 
refrained  from  using,  that  our  work  might  not  in  any  way 
supersede  the  most  elaborate  treatment  of  these  interesting 
topics  in  his,  although  our  field  is,  at  some  points,  unavoid- 
ably the  same. 

The  Instrument  by  which  the  Seminary  was  founded, 
drafted  by  the  careful  hand  of  Dr.  Eliphalet  Pearson,  the  first 
Principal  of  the  Academy  and  the  intimate  friend  of  Madam 


372  APPENDIX. 

Phillips,  in  consultation  sentence  by  sentence,  not  only  with 
her  and  her  son,  but  with  Rev.  Mr.  French,  and  Samuel 
Abbot,  and  Samuel  Farrar,  Esquires,  is  as  follows:  — 

"CONSTITUTION   OB^   THE   THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY. 

"  It  having  pleased  the  Father  of  lights  and  Author  of  all 
good  to  inspire  the  late  Honorable  SAMUEL  PHILLIPS  of  Ando- 
ver  in  the  County  of  Essex  and  Commonwealth  of  Massa- 
chusetts Esquire,  and  the  late  Honorable  JOHN  PHILLIPS  of 
Exeter  in  the  County  of  Rockingham  and  State  of  New 
Hampshire,  Esquire,  with  the  pious  determination  to  make 
'a  humble  dedication  to  their  Heavenly  Benefactor  of  the 
ability,  wherewith  He  had  blessed  them,'  by  laying,  in  the 
year  1778,  in  the  South  Parish  in  Andover  aforesaid,  the 
foundation  of  a  public  Academy,  for  the  instruction  of  youth, 
not  only  in  the  learned  Languages  and  in  various  useful  Arts 
and  Sciences,  but  principally  for  the  promotion  of  true  PIETY 
and  VIRTUE;  —  it  having  also  pleased  the  INFINITE  MIND, 
at  subsequent  periods,  to  excite  the  said  JOHN  PHILLIPS,  and 
likewise  the  late  Hon.  WILLIAM  PHILLIPS  of  Boston  in  the 
County  of  Suffolk  and  Commonwealth  aforesaid,  Esquire, 
to  make  liberal  provision,  not  only  for  '  promoting  the  virtu- 
ous and  pious  education  of  indigent  youth  of  genius,  and  of 
serious  disposition,  in  said  Academy ; '  but  '  more  especially 
for  the  benefit  of  charity  Scholars  of  excelling  genius,  good 
moral  character,  hopefully  pious,  and  designed  for  the  great 
and  good  work  of  the  gospel  ministry,  who,  having  acquired 
the  most  useful  human  literature,  may  be  assisted  in  the 
study  of  Divinity,  under  the  direction  of  some  eminent  Cal- 
vinistic  Minister  of  the  gospel,  until  such  time,  as  an  able, 
pious,  and  orthodox  Instructor  shall  be  supported  in  the  said 
Academy,  as  a  Professor  of  Divinity,  by  whom  they  may  be 
taught  the  important  and  distinguishing  tenets  of  our  HOLY 
CHRISTIAN  RELIGION  ; ' 

"  In  pursuance  therefore  of  the  same  benevolent  and  pious 


APPENDIX.  373 

object,  and  with  a  desire  to  devote  a  part  of  the  substance, 
with  which  Heaven  has  blessed  us,  to  the  defence  and  pro- 
motion of  the  Christian  Religion,  by  making  some  provision 
for  increasing  the  number  of  learned  and  able  Defenders  of 
the  gospel  of  CHRIST,  as  well  as  of  orthodox,  pious,  and  zeal- 
ous  Ministers  of  the  New  Testament ;  being  moved  by  the 
same  Spirit,  which  actuated  the  Founders  and  Benefactors 
aforesaid,  and  influenced,  as  we  hope,  by  a  principle  of  grat- 
itude to  God  and  benevolence  to  man  ;  — 

"  We,  PHOEBE  PHILLIPS  of  said  Andover,  Relict  of  SAMUEL 
PHILLIPS  Esq.,  late  Lieutenant- Governor  of  the  Common- 
wealth aforesaid,  and  JOHN  PHILLIPS,  son  of  the  said  SAMUEL 
PHILLIPS  and  PHOBBE  PHILLIPS  do  hereby  jointly  and  severally 
obligate  ourselves  to  erect  and  finish,  with  all  convenient  de- 
spatch, two  separate  buildings ;  one  of  which  to  be  three  sto- 
ries high,  and  of  such  other  dimensions  as  to  furnish  con- 
venient lodging  rooms  for  fifty  Students ;  and  the  other 
building  to  be  two  stories  high,  and  of  such  dimensions  as 
to  furnish,  in  addition  to  a  kitchen  and  private  rooms  neces- 
sary to  a  Steward's  family,  three  public  rooms,  one  for  a 
dining  Hall,  one  for  a  Chapel  and  Lecture  room,  (each  suffi- 
ciently large  to  accommodate  sixty  Students)  and  the  third 
for  a  Library,  the  said  buildings  to  be  located  by  direction 
of  the  TRUSTEES  OF  PHILLIPS  ACADEMY;  —  and  I,  SAMUEL 
ABBOT  of  Andover  aforesaid,  Esquire,  with  the  same  views, 
and  in  furtherance  of  the  same  design,  do  hereby  give,  assign, 
and  set  over  unto  the  TRUSTEES  aforesaid  the  sum  of  twenty 
thousand  dollars,  in  TRUST,  as  a  Fund  for  the  purpose  of 
maintaining  a  professor  of  Christian  Theology  (reserving  to 
myself  the  right  of  appointing  the  first  Professor  on  this 
Foundation)  and  for  the  support  and  encouragement  of  Stu- 
dents in  Divinity ;  both  the  said  buildings  and  the  interest  or 
annual  income  of  the  said  sum  of  money  to  be  forever  ap- 
propriated and  applied  by  the  TRUSTEES  aforesaid  for  the  use 
and  endowment  of  such  a  public  THEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTION  in 
PHILLIPS  ACADEMY,  as  is  hereinafter  described,  and  on  the 

32 


374  APPENDIX. 

following  express  conditions,  namely,  that  the  said  INSTITU- 
TION be  accepted  by  the  TRUSTEES  aforesaid,  and  that  it  be 
forever  conducted  and  governed  by  them,  and  their  Successors, 
in  conformity  to  the  following  general  Principles  and  Regula- 
tions, which  we  unitedly  adopt  and  ratify  as  the  CONSTITUTION 
of  the  same,  reserving  to  ourselves,  however,  during  our  natural 
lives  the  full  right,  jointly  to  make  any  additional  Regula- 
tions, or  to  alter  any  Rule  herein  prescribed  ;  provided  such 
,  Regulation  or  Alteration  be  not  prejudicial  to  the  true  design 
of  this  Foundation. 

"  ART.  I.  This  INSTITUTION  or  SEMINARY  shall  be  equally 
open  to  Protestants  of  every  denomination  for  the  admission 
of  young  men  of  requisite  qualifications. 

"  ART.  II.  Every  candidate  for  admission  into  this  Seminary 
shall  produce  satisfactory  evidence,  that  he  possesses  good 
natural  and  acquired  talents,  has  honorably  completed  a 
course  of  liberal  education,  and  sustains  a  fair  moral  charac- 
ter. He  shall  also  declare  that  it  is  his  serious  intention  to 
devote  himself  to  the  work  of  the  gospel  ministry,  (unless  in 
certain  peculiar  cases  it  appear  to  the  TRUSTEES,  or  a  Com- 
mittee of  their  appointment,  that  the  object  of  this  INSTITU- 
TION will  be  promoted  by  excusing  a  pious  Applicant  from 
making  this  declaration)  and  exhibit  proper  testimonials  of 
his  being  in  full  communion  with  some  Church  of  CHRIST  ; 
in  default  of  which  he  shall  subscribe  a  declaration  of  his 
belief  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

"  ART.  III.  The  Students  in  this  Seminary  shall  be  aided  in 
their  preparation  for  the  ministry  by  able  Professors ;  whose 
duty  it  shall  be,  by  public  and  private  instruction,  to  unlock 
the  treasures  of  divine  knowledge,  to  direct  the  Pupils  in  their 
inquiries  after  sacred  truth,  to  guard  them  against  religious 
error,  and  to  accelerate  their  acquisition  of  heavenly  wisdom. 

"  ART.  IV.  The  public  instruction  shall  be  given  in  Lectures 
on  Natural  Theology,  Sacred  Literature,  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory, Christian  Theology,  and  Pulpit  Eloquence. 

"  ART.  V.    In  the  Lectures  on  Natural  Theology,  the  exist- 


APPENDIX.  375 

ence,  attributes,  and  providence  of  God,  shall  be  demon- 
strated ;  the  soul's  immortality  and  a  future  state,  as  deduci- 
ble  from  the  light  of  nature,  discussed;  the  obligations  of 
man  to  his  Maker,  resulting  from  the  divine  perfections  and 
his  own  rational  nature,  enforced  ;  the  great  duties  of  social 
life,  flowing  from  the  mutual  relations  of  man  to  man,  incul- 
cated ;  and  the  several  personal  virtues  deduced  and  deline- 
ated ;  the  whole  being  interspersed  with  remarks  on  the  coin- 
cidence between  the  dictates  of  reason  and  the  doctrines  of 
revelation,  in  these  primary  points ;  and  notwithstanding  such 
coincidence,  the  necessity  and  utility  of  a  divine  revelation 
stated. 

"  ART.  VI.  Under  the  head  of  Sacred  Literature  shall  be  in- 
cluded Lectures  on  the  formation,  preservation,  and  trans- 
mission of  the  Sacred  Volume ;  on  the  languages,  in  which 
the  Bible  was  originally  written ;  on  the  Septuagint  version 
of  the  old  Testament,  and  on  the  peculiarities  of  the  language 
and  style  of  the  new  Testament,  resulting  from  this  version 
and  other  causes ;  on  the  history,  character,  use,  and  author- 
ity of  the  ancient  versions  and  manuscripts  of  the  old  and 
new  Testaments  ;  on  the  canons  of  biblical  criticism ;  on  the 
authenticity  of  the  several  books  of  the  sacred  Code ;  on  the 
apocryphal  books  of  both  Testaments ;  on  modern  transla- 
tions of  the  Bible,  more  particularly  on  the  history  and  char- 
acter of  our  English  version ;  and  also  critical  Lectures  on 
the  various  readings  and  difficult  passages  in  the  sacred 
writings. 

"  ART.  VII.  Under  the  head  of  Ecclesiastical  History  shall 
be  comprised  Lectures  on  Jewish  antiquities ;  on  the  origin 
and  extension  of  the  Christian  church  in  the  first  three  centu- 
turies ;  on  the  various  sects  and  heresies  in  the  early  ages  of 
Christianity ;  on  the  character  and  writings  of  the  Fathers ; 
on  the  establishment  of  Christianity  by  Constantine,  and  its 
subsequent  effects ;  on  the  rise  and  progress  of  popery  and 
Mohammedanism  ;  on  the  corruptions  of  the  church  of  Rome ; 
on  the  grounds,  progress,  and  doctrines  of  the  reformation ; 


376  APPENDIX. 

on  the  different  denominations  among  Protestants ;  on  the 
various  constitutions,  discipline,  and  rites  of  worship,  which 
have  divided,  or  may  still  divide  the  Christian  church ;  on  the 
state  and  prevalence  of  Paganism  in  our  world ;  and  on  the 
effect  which  idolatry,  Mohammedanism,  and  Christianity 
have  respectively  produced  on  individual  and  national  char- 
acter. 

"  ART.  VIII.  Under  the  head  of  Christian  Theology  shall  be 
comprehended  Lectures  on  divine  revelation ;  on  the  inspira- 
tion and  truth  of  the  old  and  new  Testaments,  as  proved  by 
miracles,  internal  evidence,  fulfilment  of  prophecies,  and  his- 
toric facts ;  on  the  great  doctrines  and  duties  of  our  holy 
Christian  Religion,  together  with  the  objections  made  to 
them  by  unbelievers,  and  the  refutation  of  such  objections ; 
more  particularly  on  the  revealed  character  of  GOD,  as 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost ;  on  the  fall  of  man  and  the 
depravity  of  human  nature  ;  on  the  covenant  of  grace  ;  on 
the  character,  offices,  atonement,  and  mediation  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  on  the  character  and  offices  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  on 
the  Scripture  doctrines  of  regeneration,  justification,  and 
sanctification ;  on  evangelical  repentance,  faith,  and  obedi- 
ence ;  on  the  nature  and  necessity  of  true  virtue  or  gospel 
holiness  ;  on  the  future  state,  the  immortality  of  soul  and 
body,  and  the  eternity  of  future  rewards  and  punishments,  as 
revealed  in  the  gospel ;  on  the  positive  institutions  of  Chris- 
tianity ;  on  the  nature,  interpretation,  and  use  of  prophecy ; 
and  on  personal  religion,  as  a  qualification  for  the  ministry ; 
each  Lecture  under  this  head  to  be  preceded  and  followed  by 
prayer. 

"  ART.  IX.  Under  the  head  of  Pulpit  Eloquence  shall  be  de- 
livered a  competent  number  of  Lectures  on  the  importance 
of  oratory ;  on  the  invention  and  disposition  of  topics ;  on 
the  several  parts  of  a  regular  discourse ;  on  elegance,  compo- 
sition, and  dignity  in  style ;  on  pronunciation,  or  the  proper 
management  of  the  voice  and  correct  gesture ;  on  the  im- 
mense importance  of  a  natural  manner ;  on  the  rules,  to  be 


APPENDIX.  377 

observed  in  composing  a  sermon,  and  on  the  adaptation  of 
the  principles  and  precepts  of  ancient  rhetoric  to  this  modern 
species  of  oration;  on  the  qualities  in  the  speaker,  in  his 
style,  and  in  his  delivery,  necessary  to  a  finished  pulpit  Ora- 
tor;  on  the  methods  of  strengthening  the  memory,  and  of 
improving  in  sacred  eloquence  ;  on  the  character  and  style 
of  the  most  eminent  Divines  and  best  models  for  imitation, 
their  respective  beauties  and  excellences  in  thought  and  ex- 
pression ;  and  above  all,  on  the  transcendent  simplicity, 
beauty,  and  sublimity  of  the  SACRED  WRITINGS. 

"  ART.  X.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Professors,  by  private 
instruction  and  advice,  to  aid  the  Students  in  the  acquisition 
of  a  radical  and  adequate  knowledge  of  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures in  their  original  languages,  and  of  the  old  Testament 
in  the  Septuagint  version ;  to  direct  their  method  of  studying 
the  Bible  and  all  other  writings ;  to  superintend  and  animate 
their  pursuits  by  frequent  inquiries  and  examinations,  relative 
to  their  progress  in  books  and  knowledge ;  to  assign  proper 
subjects  for  their  first  compositions,  and  to  suggest  a  natural 
method  of  treating  them  ;  frequently  and  critically  to  exam- 
ine their  early  productions,  and  in  a  free,  but  friendly  man- 
ner, to  point  out  their  defects  and  errors,  in  grammar,  method, 
reasoning,  style,  and  sentiment ;  to  improve  them  in  the  im- 
portant art  of  reading,  and  to  give  them  opportunities  of 
speaking  in  public,  favoring  them  with  their  candid  remarks 
on  their  whole  manner ;  to  explain  intricate  texts  of  Scrip- 
ture, referred  to  them  ;  to  solve  cases  of  conscience  ;  to  watch 
over  their  health  and  morals  with  paternal  solicitude ;  and  by 
every  prudent  and  Christian  method,  to  promote  the  growth 
of  true  piety  in  their  hearts ;  to  give  them  friendly  advice 
with  relation  to  their  necessary  intercourse  among  men  in 
the  various  walks  of  life,  and  especially  with  respect  to  the 
manner,  in  which  it  becomes  a  minister  of  the  meek  and 
lowly  JESUS  to  address  both  GOD  and  man,  whether  in  the 
assembly  of  his  saints,  or  in  the  chamber  of  sickness  and  of 
death. 

32* 


378  APPENDIX. 

"  ART.  XL  Every  Professor  in  this  Seminary  shall  be  a 
Master  of  Arts,  of  the  Protestant  reformed  religion,  in  com- 
munion with  some  Christian  Church  of  the  Congregational 
or  Presbyterian  denomination,  and  sustain  the  character  of  a 
sober,  honest,  learned,  and  pious  man ;  he  shall  moreover  be 
a  man  of  sound  and  orthodox  principles  in  Divinity,  accord- 
ing to  that  form  of  sound  words  or  system  of  evangelical 
doctrines,  drawn  from  the  Scriptures,  and  denominated  the 
Westminster  Assembly's  shorter  Catechism,  and  more  con- 
cisely delineated  in  the  CONSTITUTION  OP  PHILLIPS  ACADEMY. 

"  ART.  XII.  Every  person,  therefore,  appointed  or  elected  a 
Professor  in  this  Seminary,  shall  on  the  day  of  his  inaugura- 
tion into  office,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  said  TRUSTEES, 
publicly  make  and  subscribe  a  solemn  Declaration  of  his 
faith  in  divine  revelation,  and  in  the  fundamental  and  distin- 
guishing doctrines  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  as  summarily  ex- 
pressed in  the  Westminster  Assembly's  shorter  Catechism ; 
and  he  shall  furthermore  solemnly  promise,  that  he  will  open 
and  explain  the  Scriptures  to  his  Pupils  with  integrity  and 
faithfulness ;  that  he  will  maintain  and  inculcate  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  as  above  expressed,  together  with  all  the  other 
doctrines  and  duties  of  our  holy  religion,  so  far  as  may  ap- 
pertain to  his  office,  according  to  the  best  light  GOD  shall 
give  him ;  and  in  opposition,  not  only  to  Atheists  and  Infi- 
dels, but  to  Jews,  Mohammedans,  Arians,  Pelagians,  Antino- 
mians,  Arminians,  Socinians,  Unitarians,  and  Universalists, 
and  to  all  other  heresies  and  errors,  ancient  or  modern,  which 
may  be  opposed  to  the  gospel  of  CHRIST,  or  hazardous  to  the 
souls  of  men ;  —  that  by  his  instructions,  counsels,  and  exam- 
ple, he  will  endeavor  to  promote  true  PIETY  and  GODLINESS  ; 
that  he  will  consult  the  good  of  this  INSTITUTION  and  the 
peace  of  the  churches  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  on  all  occa- 
sions ;  and  that  he  will  religiously  observe  the  Statutes  of 
this  INSTITUTION,  relative  to  his  official  duties  and  deportment, 
and  all  such  other  Statutes  and  Laws,  as  shall  be  constitu- 
tionally made  by  the  TRUSTEES  OF  PHILLIPS  ACADEMY,  not  re- 
pugnant thereto. 


APPENDIX.  379 

"  ART.  XIII.  The  preceding  Declaration  shall  be  repeated 
by  every  Professor  in  this  Seminary,  in  the  presence  of  the 
said  TRUSTEES,  at  the  expiration  of  every  successive  period 
of  five  years ;  and  no  man  shall  be  continued  a  Professor  in 
this  INSTITUTION,  who  shall  not  continue  to  approve  himself, 
to  the  satisfaction  of  the  said  TRUSTEES,  a  man  of  sound  and 
orthodox  principles  in  Divinity,  agreeably  to  the  system  of 
evangelical  doctrines  contained  in  the  aforesaid  Catechism. 
Accordingly,  if  at  any  meeting  regularly  appointed,  it  should 
be  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  a  majority  of  the  whole  num- 
ber of  the  said  TRUSTEES,  that  any  Professor  in  this  INSTITU- 
TION has  taught  or  embraced  any  of  the  heresies  or  errors, 
alluded  to  in  the  Declaration  aforesaid ;  or,  should  he  refuse 
to  repeat  the  same,  as  herein  required,  he  shall  be  forthwith 
removed  from  office. 

"  ART.  XIV.  Every  Professor  in  this  INSTITUTION  shall  be 
under  the  immediate  inspection  of  the  said  TRUSTEES  ;  and 
by  them  removed,  agreeably  to  the  will  of  his  Founder,  for 
gross  neglect  of  duty,  scandalous  immorality,  mental  inca- 
pacity, or  any  just  and  sufficient  cause. 

"  ART.  XV.  Whenever  a  Professor  in  this  Seminary  shall 
be  removed  by  death  or  otherwise ;  the  said  TRUSTEES  shall 
elect  a  Successor  within  twelve  months. 

"  ART.  XVI.  The  TRUSTEES  aforesaid,  in  conformity  to  the 
Statutes  of  every  Founder,  shall  assign  to  the  Professors  in 
this  Seminary  their  respective  departments  of  instruction, 
the  times  for  reading  their  lectures,  and  their  several  public 
and  private  duties,  in  such  manner,  as,  after  consultation 
with  the  said  Professors,  shall  to  the  said  TRUSTEES  appear 
most  convenient  and  useful ;  provided,  however,  that  the 
course  of  lectures  in  each  department  be  always  completed 
within  the  space  of  three  years. 

"  ART.  XVII.  The  necessary  expenses  of  indigent  Students 
at  this  Seminary,  for  board,  lodging,  washing,  fuel,  and  light, 
will  be  defrayed  out  of  funds,  appropriated  to  this  purpose, 
agreeably  to  the  Regulations,  in  such  case  provided,  and  as 
said  funds  may  permit. 


380  APPENDIX. 

"  ART.  XVIII.  No  person  shall  be  admitted  a  Student  on 
the  charitable  Foundation  who  is  not  distinguished  by  nat- 
ural abilities,  literary  acquirements,  unblemished  morals,  and 
hopeful  piety ;  a  certificate  of  which  qualities  will  be  required 
from  known  and  respectable  characters  in  order  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  this  charity. 

"  ART.  XIX.  To  be  entitled  to  the  maintenance  aforesaid, 
each  Student  on  the  charitable  Foundation,  unless  prevented 
by  sickness,  must  reside  at  this  Seminary  eight  months  at 
least  in  each  year,  regularly  attending  the  exercises  aforesaid, 
as  well  as  diligently  prosecuting  the  studies  prescribed,  and 
in  all  respects  conforming  to  the  Rules  of  this  Constitution, 
and  to  the  Laws  and  Orders  of  the  said  TRUSTEES. 

"  ART.  XX.  Whatever  may  be  the  number  of  vacations,  the 
aggregate  thereof  shall  not  exceed  twelve  weeks  in  any  one 
year ;  and  the  constant  presence  of  the  Professors  and  Stu- 
dents will  be  expected  in  term  time. 

"  ART.  XXI.  Every  Student  in  this  Seminary  shall  con- 
stantly, punctually,  and  seriously  attend  the  religious  exer- 
cises of  the  chapel  morning  and  evening,  and  all  the  public 
lectures  of  the  several  Professors ;  and,  to  increase  the  rever- 
ence, due  to  religious  institutions,  as  well  as  to  give  weight 
to  public  instruction,  it  is  expected,  that  the  Professors  not 
only  frequent  the  chapel  at  morning  and  evening  prayers,  but 
that  they  constantly  attend  each  other's  public  lectures. 

"  ART.  XXII.  Every  Student  in  this  Seminary  is  required  to 
devote  so  much  time  to  the  study  of  the  learned  languages, 
as  shall  increase  his  knowledge  of  them,  especially  of  the 
Greek  and  Hebrew  languages ;  to  pay  due  attention  to 
Philology,  Rhetoric,  and  Oratory ;  to  read  the  best  treatises 
on  natural  and  revealed  Religion,  and  on  the  fundamental 
doctrines  of  the  Gospel ;  to  make  himself  master  of  the 
principal  arguments  and  evidences  of  the  truth  of  Christian- 
ity ;  to  pay  due  attention  to  ecclesiastical  History,  and  to  the 
canons  of  biblical  Criticism.  But  above  all,  it  is  required, 
that  he  make  the  BIBLE  the  object  of  his  most  attentive, 
diligent,  and  prayerful  study. 


APPENDIX.  381 

"  ART.  XXIII.  It  will  be  the  duty  of  the  Professors  in  this 
Seminary  to  prepare  a  list  of  such  books,  and  to  point  out 
such  a  course  of  study,  as  in  their  opinion  may  be  the  most 
congenial  to  the  true  design  of  this  Institution,  and  most 
beneficial  to  the  Students  in  it;  which  list  of  books  and 
course  of  study,  being  approved  by  said  TRUSTEES,  said  Stu- 
dents shall  pursue ;  they  shall  also  frequently  ask  the  advice 
and  assistance  of  the  Professors  with  reference  to  their 
studies  ;  and  often  submit  their  theological  compositions, 
especially  their  first  essays,  to  the  friendly  inspection  and 
faithful  remarks  of  one  or  more  of  the  said  Professors. 

"  ART.  XXIV.  Each  Student,  once  at  least  in  every  year, 
shall  acquaint  the  Professors  with  the  books  he  has  read,  and 
with  his  course  of  study  during  said  year;  and  shall  also  be 
examined  in  the  original  languages  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament,  and  in  the  Septuagint  version  of  the  former  ;  also 
with  reference  to  the  leading  sentiments  and  arguments  of 
the  principal  authors  he  has  perused ;  but  especially  with 
respect  to  the  style,  character,  and  design  of  those  sacred 
writers,  which  agreeably  to  direction  he  has  particularly 
studied. 

"  ART.  XXV.  If  upon  due  and  impartial  examination  it  be 
found,  that  any  Student  on  the  charitable  Foundation  afore- 
said, has  not  made  reasonable  proficiency  in  the  studies  pre- 
scribed him,  he  shall  be  continued  thereon  no  longer ;  and,  if 
any  Student  whatever  in  this  Seminary  shall  be  guilty  of  any 
gross  immorality,  or  of  any  insult  or  oppugnation  to  the 
said  TRUSTEES,  or  to  any  Professor  or  Officer  of  this  Sem- 
inary, he  shall  be  cut  off'  from  all  the  advantages  and  benefits 
of  this  INSTITUTION,  unless  he  make  reasonable  and  immediate 
satisfaction  for  his  offence. 

"  ART.  XXVI.  Whenever  a  Student  shall  have  honorably 
finished  his  term  and  course  of  study  under  the  direction  of 
the  Professors,  and  such  Student  shall  request  it ;  a  Certifi- 
cate, signed  by  the  Professors,  specifying  how  long  such  Stu- 
dent has  studied  under  the  direction,  and  attended  the  lee- 


382  APPENDIX. 

tures  of  the  Professors,  that  he  has  prosecuted  his  studies 
with  diligence,  and  sustained  a  good  moral  character,  shall  be 
given  him;  provided  always,  that  his  conduct,  and  profi- 
ciency in  theological  knowledge  be  such,  as  to  merit  the 
same. 

"  ART.  XXVII.  After  the  expiration  of  the  first  three  years 
from  the  opening  of  this  INSTITUTION,  it  will  be  required  of 
all  persons,  who  may  wish  to  enjoy  the  advantages  of  the 
same,  that  they  statedly  reside  at  the  Seminary  three  full 
years,  vacations  excepted ;  a  period  scarcely  sufficient  for 
acquiring  that  fund  of  knowledge,  which  is  necessary  for  a 
minister  of  the  gospel.  No  Student,  therefore,  after  the  ex- 
piration of  the  first  three  years  of  the  INSTITUTION,  shall  be  en- 
titled to  the  Certificate  aforesaid ;  nor  can  any  one  leave  the 
Seminary  in  an  honorable  manner,  within  the  term  of  three 
years  of  such  residence,  except  by  permission,  specially  ob- 
tained of  the  TRUSTEES,  in  case  of  necessity. 

"ART.  XXVIII.  Every  morning  and  evening,  during  the 
term  time,  religious  exercises  shall  be  performed  in  the  chapel, 
and  these  exercises  shall  usually  be,  as  follows.  The  divine 
assistance  and  blessing  shall  be  first  implored  in  a  short 
prayer;  a  devotional  chapter  or  psalm  shall  then  be  read,  ac- 
companied with  pious  and  practical  reflections ;  or,  instead 
of  this,  once  at  least  in  every  week,  an  exposition  shall  be 
given  upon  some  deeply  interesting  passage  of  scripture ;  to 
this  shall  succeed  a  piece  of  genuine  psalmody ;  and  the 
services  be  concluded  by  an  appropriate  prayer.  In  these 
exercises  the  Professors  shall  preside,  and  ordinarily  officiate; 
but  Students  of  two  years  standing  may  occasionally  per- 
form them  in  whole  or  in  part,  according  to  the  desire  and 
direction  of  the  Professors.  Moreover  as  soon  as  circum- 
stances will  permit,  a  regular  Church  will  be  formed  in  this 
Seminary,  consisting  chiefly  of  the  Professors,  Students,  and 
families,  connected  with  this  Seminary  and  PHILLIPS  Acad- 
emy ;  after  which,  if  not  before,  divine  services  will  be  pub- 
licly celebrated  in  the  chapel  of  the  Seminary,  in  the  fore- 


APPENDIX.  383 

noon  and  afternoon  of  every  Lord's  day  during  term  time. 
These  services  shall  be  usually  performed  by  the  Professors ; 
but  sometimes  by  such  senior  Students  as  may  have  obtained 
permission  of  the  Professors  to  preach  occasionally ;  and 
they  shall  be  attended  by  all  the  Students  of  this  INSTITUTION, 
and  by  as  many  of  the  families  of  the  Professors  and  Offi- 
cers, connected  with  it,  or  with  PHILLIPS  Academy,  as  may 
wish  for  this  privilege,  and  by  as  many  pupils  of  said  Acade- 
my as  may  be  deemed  expedient  by  the  TRUSTEES  aforesaid. 

"  ART.  XXIX.  The  senior  Students  will  be  required,  not 
only  to  prepare  sermons,  but  occasionally  to  deliver  them  in 
public,  both  in  the  Seminary  and  in  neighboring  congre- 
gations, as  may  be  judged  expedient  by  the  said  Professors. 
No  Student,  however,  shall  presume  to  preach,  before, 
upon  thorough  examination  of  his  qualifications  and  motives 
for  preaching,  he  shall  have  obtained  a  written  permission 
therefor,  subscribed  by  the  Professors,  or  a  major  part  of 
them.  This  permission,  however,  is  never  to  supersede  the 
customary  approbation  or  license  of  some  regular  Association 
or  Presbytery. 

"  ART.  XXX.  Sacred  Music,  and  especially  Psalmody,  be- 
ing an  important  part  of  public,  social  worship ;  and  as  it 
is  proper  for  those,  who  are  to  preside  in  the  assemblies  of 
God's  people,  to  possess  themselves  of  so  much  skill  and 
taste  in  this  sublime  art,  as  at  least  to  distinguish  between 
those  solemn  movements,  which  are  congenial  to  pious 
minds,  and  those  unhallowed,  trifling,  medley  pieces  which 
chill  devotion;  it  is  expected  that  serious  attention  will  be 
paid  to  the  culture  of  a  true  taste  for  genuine  Church  Music 
in  this  Seminary ;  and  that  all  Students  therein,  who  have 
tolerable  voices,  will  be  duly  instructed  in  the  theory  and 
practice  of  this  celestial  art ;  and  whenever  it  shall  be  in  the 
power  of  either  of  the  said  Professors,  it  shall  accordingly 
be  his  duty  to  afford  this  necessary  instruction;  and  when- 
ever this  shall  not  be  the  case,  it  is  expected  that  an  In- 
structor will  be  procured  for  this  purpose. 


384  APPENDIX. 

"  ART.  XXXI.  All  Professors,  Officers,  and  Students  in  this 
Seminary,  and  all  other  persons  employed  in  its  service,  to- 
gether with  the  Lands,  Buildings,  Library,  Funds,  and  all 
other  Property,  thereto  belonging,  shall  be  under  the  imme- 
diate inspection  and  government  of  the  TRUSTEES  aforesaid; 
and  be  regulated  and  managed  by  them  in  strict  conformity 
to  this  Constitution,  and  to  the  Statutes  and  Will  of  every 
FOUNDER  of  a  Professorship  or  Benefactor  of  this  INSTITUTION. 
And  the  said  TRUSTEES  are  hereby  authorized  and  empowered 
to  make  such  additional  Regulations  (not  inconsistent  with 
the  Regulations  established  in  this  Constitution,  nor  with 
the  Statutes  or  Will  of  any  Founder  or  Donor,  nor  with  the 
object  of  this  Institution,  nor  in  any  degree  avoiding  them, 
or  either  of  them),  as  they  in  their  wisdom  shall  deem  neces- 
sary to  give  the  fullest  efficacy  to  these  provisions,  or  to  the 
consistent  provisions  of  future  BENEFACTORS  ;  whether  such 
Regulations  may  relate  to  the  conduct  of  the  Professors,  the 
government  of  the  Students,  their  various  duties  and  exer- 
cises, their  lodgings  and  diet,  the  prevention  and  punishment 
of  offences,  the  preservation  of  health,  the  promotion  of 
order,  peace,  and  harmony,  to  the  safety  of  the  Buildings,  or 
to  the  security  of  the  Funds,  which  last  are  to  be  effectually 
guarded  against  all  loss  and  diminution ;  in  a  word,  to  do 
every  thing,  under  the  foregoing  limitations,  which,  upon  seri- 
ous and  mature  deliberation,  may  appear  to  them  necessary 
to  secure  and  promote  the  true  object  of  this  INSTITUTION. 

"ART.  XXXII.  Notwithstanding  this  Seminary  is  placed 
by  this  Constitution  under  the  immediate  care  and  govern- 
ment of  the  TRUSTEES  of  PHILLIPS  ACADEMY  ;  it  is  always  to 
be  understood,  and  it  is  hereby  expressly  declared,  that  every 
FOUNDER  of  a  Professorship,  Scholarship,  or  any  other  Living 
whatever  in  this  INSTITUTION,  will  have  the  exclusive  right 
of  prescribing  the  Regulations  and  Statutes,  to  be  observed 
by  the  said  TRUSTEES  in  conducting  the  concerns  of  the  same, 
said  Regulations  and  Statutes  being  always  consistent  with 
the  principles  and  object  of  this  INSTITUTION;  and  also  the 


APPENDIX.  385 

right,  for  the  term  of  his  life,  of  appointing  in  the  original  deed 
or  grant,  such  local  VISITOR  or  VISITORS,  as  he  may  think 
proper,  and  to  endow  him  or  them  with  all  visitatorial  pow- 
ers and  authorities,  necessary  to  secure  and  enforce  due  ob- 
servance and  execution  of  his  said  Regulations  and  Statutes. 

"  ART.  XXXIII.  Whereas  the  necessary  business  of  this 
Seminary  will  be  sufficient  to  employ  the  said  TRUSTEES  one 
day  at  least  in  every  year ;  they  are  requested  to  hold  an  an- 
nual meeting  for  transacting  the  same,  on  such  day  in  each 
year,  as  they  may  appoint ;  and  likewise  to  meet  as  much 
ofterier  as  the  good  of  said  Seminary  may  require  ;  and  at 
each  annual  meeting  to  read  this  Constitution.  The  rules 
and  modes  of  doing  business  at  all  such  meetings  shall  be 
the  same,  mutatis  mutandis,  which  are  prescribed  in  the  Con- 
stitution of  PHILLIPS  ACADEMY.  Decent,  not  extravagant 
entertainment  shall  be  made  for  the  TRUSTEES,  while  attend- 
ing such  meetings;  reasonable  compensation  made  to  the 
Treasurer  of  said  Academy  for  his  services ;  and  other  nec- 
essary expenses  of  this  INSTITUTION  defrayed  out  of  the 
income  of  its  Funds.  It  is  also  particularly  requested,  that 
all  the  transactions  of  the  said  TRUSTEES,  relative  to  the  said 
THEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTION,  be  recorded  in  a  distinct  book  ;  and 
likewise  that  all  property  given,  devised,  or  bequeathed  for 
the  support  of  this  Seminary,  be  separated  and  for  ever  kept 
distinct  from  all  other  property,  to  the  TRUSTEES  aforesaid  in 
any  way  or  for  any  other  purpose  intrusted,  being  never 
blended  therewith,  in  any  part  or  degree,  by  loan  or  purchase ; 
and  that  the  said  Treasurer  accordingly  keep  all  his  accounts 
and  entries,  relative  to  these  Funds,  in  distinct  books ;  and 
all  moneys,  evidences  of  property,  receipts,  papers,  and  books 
of  account,  appertaining  to  this  INSTITUTION,  in  a  separate 
trunk  or  chest,  prepared  for  prompt  removal  on  any  emer- 
gence ;  and  that  the  accounts  of  said  Treasurer  be  annually 
audited  by  a  Committee,  for  this  purpose  appointed,  who 
shall  report  to  the  said  TRUSTEES  in  writing. 

"  ART.  XXXIV.  Confiding  in  the  wisdom  and  fidelity  of 
33  ' 


386  APPENDIX. 

the  said  TRUSTEES  and  their  Successors  in  cilice,  and  with 
the  pleasing  hope  and  expectation,  that  they  will  religiously 
appropriate  the  aforesaid  Buildings,  and  the  income  of  the 
aforesaid  Fund,  and  of  all  future  Donations  for  the  same 
pious  purpose,  to  the  great  object  of  supporting  a  Theologi- 
cal Seminary,  such  as  herein  contemplated  and  described, 
agreeably  to  the  Principles  and  Regulations  contained  in 
this  Constitution  ;  we  do  now  under  GOD  cheerfully  commit 
this  our  Foundation  to  their  pious  and  watchful  care  ;  trust- 
ing that  no  exertion  on  their  part  will  be  wanting  to  the  suc- 
cess of  an  INSTITUTION,  so  intimately  connected  with  the 
glory  of  GOD,  the  advancement  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom, 
and  the  salvation  of  their  fellow-men. 

"  But,  while  we  thus  express  our  conviction  of  the  necessity 
and  utility  of  this  INSTITUTION,  it  is  our  earnest  prayer,  that 
our  own  minds,  and  the  minds  of  the  TRUSTEES,  Professors, 
Students,  and  all  connected  therewith,  may  be  ever  pene- 
trated by  a  deep  sense  of  the  necessity  of  the  DIVINE  direc- 
tion, influence,  and  blessing,  to  render  even  the  wisest  pro- 
visions and  the  best  human  instructions  ultimately  successful. 

"  To  the  SPIRIT  of  truth,  to  the  Divine  AUTHOR  of  our  faith, 
to  the  only  Wise  GOD,  we  desire  in  sincerity  to  present  this 
our  humble  offering ;  devoutly  imploring  the  FATHER  of 
lights,  richly  to  endue  with  wisdom  from  above  all  his  ser- 
vants, the  TRUSTEES  of  this  SEMINARY  ;  and  with  spiritual 
understanding  the  Professors  therein ;  that,  being  illuminated 
by  the  HOLY  SPIRIT,  their  doctrine  may  drop  as  the  rain,  and 
their  speech  distil,  as  the  dew;  and  that  their  Pupils  may 
become  trees  of  renown  in  the  courts  of  our  GOD,  whereby 
HE  may  be  glorified. 

"  In  witness  whereof  we,  the  Subscribers,  have  hereunto  set 
our  hands  and  seals  this  thirty-first  day  of  August  in  the 
year  of  our  LORD  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seven. 

"  Signed,  sealed,  and  delivered  -r,  -pj  /  r,  \ 

in  presence  of  PH(EBE    PHILLIPS,  (S.) 

"  SAMUEL  STEARNS, 

JOHN  PHILLIPS,  Jun.  (S.) 
''JOSEPH  PHELPS, 

"  AMOS  BLANCHARD.  SAMUEL  ABBOT.         (S.)" 


APPENDIX.  387 

The  Foundation  of  the  Theological  Seminary  originating 
in  the  Phillips  family,  in  connection  with  the  Academy,  as 
set.  forth  in  the  preceding  Constitution,  was,  after  the  lapse 
of  a  few  months,  enlarged  by  a  union  with  the  Associate 
Founders,  Messrs.  Bartlet,  Brown,  and  Norris,  on  the  basis  of 
the  Associate  Statutes,  and  of  additional  Statutes  by  Madam 
Phillips  and  son,  and  Mr.  Abbot ;  in  both  of  which,  provis- 
ion was  made  for  a  Board  of  Visitors  to  act  with  the  Board 
of  Trustees,  and  a  more  full  and  elaborate  Creed  was  pre- 
scribed. This  Creed  we  here  give,  as  adjusted  to  the  original 
Constitution  in  these  additional  Statutes.  After  a  brief  pre- 
amble, the  Founders  say  :  — 

"  Having  provided  in  the  twelfth  Article  of  our  said  Con- 
stitution, that  '  every  person,  appointed  or  elected  a  Professor 
in  the  said  Seminary,  shall,  on  the  day  of  his  inauguration 
into  office,  publicly  make  and  subscribe  a  Declaration  of  his 
faith  in  Divine  Revelation,  and  in  the  fundamental  and  dis- 
tinguishing doctrines  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  as  summarily 
expressed  in  the  Westminster  Assembly's  Shorter  Catechism  : ' 
We  now  ordain  the  following  addition,  to  be  inserted  in  said 
Article,  in  connection  with  the  said  clause,  namely,  'and  as 
more  particularly  expressed  in  the  following  Creed,  to  wit, 

"  '  I  believe  that  there  is  one  and  but  one  living  and  true 
God ;  that  the  word  of  God,  contained  in  the  Scriptures  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testament,  is  the  only  perfect  rule  of  faith 
and  practice ;  that  agreeably  to  those  Scriptures  GOD  is  a 
Spirit  infinite,  eternal,  and  unchangeable  in  his  being,  wis- 
dom, power,  holiness,  justice,  goodness,  and  truth  ;  that  in 
the  Godhead  are  three  Persons,  the  FATHER,  the  Sox,  and  the 
HOLY  GHOST  ;  and  that  these  THREE  are  ONE  GOD,  the  same 
in  substance,  equal  in  power  and  glory;  that  GOD  created 
man  after  his  own  image,  in  knowledge,  righteousness,  and 
holiness ;  that  the  glory  of  GOD  is  man's  chief  end,  and  the 
enjoyment  of  GOD  his  supreme  happiness;  that  this  enjoy- 
ment is  derived  solely  from  conformity  of  heart  to  the  moral 
character  and  will  of  GOD  ;  that  ADAM,  the  federal  head  and 


388  APPENDIX. 

representative  of  the  human  race,  was  placed  in  a  state  of 
probation,  and  that,  in  consequence  of  his  disobedience,  all 
his  descendants  were  constituted  sinners ;  that  by  nature 
every  man  is  personally  depraved,  destitute  of  holiness,  unlike 
and  opposed  to  GOD  ;  and  that,  previously  to  the  renewing 
agency  of  the  DIVINE  SPIRIT,  all  his  moral  actions  are  ad- 
verse to  the  character  and  glory  of  GOD  ;  that,  being  morally 
incapable  of  recovering  the  image  of  his  CREATOR,  which  was 
lost  in  ADAM,  every  man  is  justly  exposed  to  eternal  damna- 
tion ;  so  that,  except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the 
kingdom  of  GOD;  that  GOD,  of  his  mere  good  pleasure,  from 
all  eternity,  elected  some  to  everlasting  life,  and  that  he  en- 
tered into  a  covenant  of  grace,  to  deliver  them  out  of  this 
state  of  sin  and  misery  by  a  REDEEMER;  that  the  only  RE- 
DEEMER of  the  elect  is  the  eternal  SON  of  GOD,  who  for  this 
purpose  became  man,  and  continues  to  be  GOD  and  man  in 
two  distinct  natures  and  one  person  forever ;  that  CHRIST,  as 
our  Redeemer,  executeth  the  office  of  a  Prophet,  Priest,  and 
King ;  that,  agreeably  to  the  covenant  of  redemption,  the 
SON  of  GOD,  and  he  alone,  by  his  sufferings  and  death,  has 
made  atonement  for  the  sins  of  all  men ;  that  repentance, 
faith,  and  holiness  are  the  personal  requisites  in  the  Gospel 
scheme  of  salvation  ;  that  the  righteousness  of  CHRIST  is  the 
only  ground  of  a  sinner's  justification  ;  that  this  righteous- 
ness is  received  through  faith  ;  and  that  this  faith  is  the  gift 
of  GOD  ;  so  that  our  salvation  is  wholly  of  grace  ;  that  no 
means  whatever  can  change  the  heart  of  a  sinner  and  make 
it  holy ;  that  regeneration  and  sanctification  are  effects  of  the 
creating  and  renewing  agency  of  the  HOLY  SPIRIT,  and  that 
supreme  love  to  GOD  constitutes  the  essential  difference  be- 
tween saints  and  sinners;  that  by  convincing  us  of  our  sin 
and  misery,  enlightening  our  minds,  working  faith  in  us,  and 
renewing  our  wills,  the  HOLY  SPIRIT  makes  us  partakers  of 
the  benefits  of  redemption  ;  and  that  the  ordinary  means,  by 
which  these  benefits  are  communicated  to  us,  are  the  word, 
sacraments,  and  prayer;  that  repentence  unto  life,  faith  to 


APPENDIX.  389 

feed  upon  Christ,  love  to  GOD,  and  new  obedience,  are  the 
appropriate  qualifications  for  the  Lord's  Supper ;  and  that  a 
Christian  Church  ought  to  admit  no  person  to  its  holy  com- 
munion, before  he  exhibit  credible  evidence  of  his  godly  sin- 
cerity ;  that  perseverance  in  holiness  is  the  only  method  of 
making  our  calling  and  election  sure  ;  and  that  the  final  per- 
severance of  saints,  though  it  is  the  effect  of  the  special  open 
operation  of  GOD  on  their  hearts,  yet  necessarily  implies  their 
own  watchful  diligence ;  that  they,  who  are  effectually  called, 
do  in  this  life  partake  of  justification,  adoption,  and  sancti- 
fication,  and  the  several  benefits,  which  do  either  accompany 
or  flow  from  them ;  that  the  souls  of  believers  are  at  their 
death  made  perfect  in  holiness,  and  do  immediately  pass  into 
glory ;  that  their  bodies,  being  still  united  to  CHRIST,  will  at 
the  resurrection  be  raised  up  to  glory,  and  that  the  saints  will 
be  made  perfectly  blessed  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  GOD  to  all 
eternity ;  but  that  the  wicked  will  awake  to  shame  and  ever- 
lasting contempt,  and  with  devils  be  plunged  into  the  lake 
that  burneth  with  fire  and  brimstone  forever  and  ever.  I 
moreover  believe  that  God,  according  to  the  counsel  of  his 
own  will,  and  for  his  own  glory,  hath  foreordained  whatsoever 
comes  to  pass,  and  that  all  beings,  actions,  and  events,  both 
in  the  natural  and  moral  world,  are  under  his  providential 
direction ;  that  GOD'S  decrees  perfectly  consist  with  human 
liberty ;  GOD'S  universal  agency  with  the  agency  of  man ; 
and  man's  dependence  with  his  accountability ;  that  man  has 
understanding  and  corporeal  strength  to  do  all  that  GOD  re- 
quires of  him  ;  so  that  nothing  but  the  sinner's  aversion  to 
holiness,  prevents  his  salvation  ;  that  it  is  the  prerogative  of 
GOD  to  bring  good  out  of  evil,  and  that  he  will  cause  the 
wrath  and  rage  of  wicked  men  and  devils  to  praise  Him ; 
and  that  all  the  evil  which  has  existed,  and  will  forever  exist 
in  the  moral  system,  will  eventually  be  made  to  promote  a 
most  important  purpose  under  the  wise  and  perfect  admin- 
istration of  that  ALMIGHTY  BEING,  who  will  cause  all  things 
to  work  for  his  own  glory,  and  thus  fulfil  all  his  pleasure.'  " 


390  APPENDIX. 

In  pursuance  of  the  stipulations  embodied  in  this  Consti- 
tution, buildings  were  promptly  erected,  larger  even  than  was 
contemplated  at  first,  and  in  September,  1808,  the  Institution 
was  in  due  form  opened  for  the  reception  of  students.  After 
the  sale  of  the  mansion-house  to  the  Trustees,  Madam  Phil- 
lips removed  to  the  house  of  Samuel  Farrar,  Esquire,  then 
recently  erected ;  where  in  full  view  of  the  noble  work  upon 
which  she  had  concentrated  her  gifts  and  prayers,  she  passed 
the  evening  of  her  life,  and  finally  rested  from  her  labors, 
October  31,  1812,  in  the  seventieth  year  of  her  age. 

It  deserves  to  be  here  added,  as  a  fact  of  special  interest, 
that  the  family  tie  of  blood  and  sympathy  which  through  her 
and  her  son  linked  the  later  as  well  as  the  earlier  Institution 
with  the  name  of  Phillips  as  one  ever  more  in  their  aims  and 
destiny,  has  been  still  further  strengthened  by  the  congenial 
efforts  of  other  distinguished  donors  of  the  same  genealogy. 

Lieutenant-Governor  William  Phillips,  of  Boston,  who 
was  the  honored  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  for  many 
years,  added  to  his  earnest  counsels  and  prayers  for  the  Sem- 
inary, as  mentioned  in  the  text,  his  frequent  gifts  while  he 
lived,  and  his  legacy  for  the  library  and  for  the  aid  of  indi- 
gent students  at  his  death. 

Samuel  Abbot,  Esquire,  of  Andover,  who  united  with 
Madam  Phillips  and  her  son,  in  the  founding  of  the  Semi- 
nary, by  endowing  the  Abbot  Professorship  of  Christian 
Theology,  was  a  grandson  of  Samuel  Phillips,  Esquire,  the 
goldsmith  at  Salem.1 

The  wife  of  Moses  Brown,  Esquire,  of  Newburyport,  the 
founder  of  the  Brown  Professorship  of  Ecclesiastical  History, 
was  a  great-grand-daughter  of  the  Salem  goldsmith  also,2 
and  the  Seminary  is  not  only  largely  indebted  to  her  munifi- 
cent husband,  but  to  her  own  benefactions,  and  especially  to 
the  liberality  of  her  granddaughter,  Mrs.  Sarah  W.  Hale, 
widow  of  Ebenezer  Hale,  M.  D.,  who  a  few  years  since 

1  Bond,  Gen.  and  Hist,  of  Watertown,  902.  2  Ibid. 


APPENDIX.  391 

added  to  the  original  endowment  of  the  Brown  Professor- 
ship a  donation  of  four  thousand  dollars  to  provide  a  house 
for  the  Professor. 

Mrs.  Sarah  Abbot,  also,  (widow  of  Mr.  Nehemiah  Abbot,) 
who  was  the  chief  founder  of  our  Abbot  Female  Academy, 
as  well  as  a  zealous  friend  of  the  Seminary,  was  a  great-great- 
granddaughter  of  the  same  Mr.  Phillips  at  Salem.1 

1  Bond,  Gen.  and  Hist  of  Watertown,  888. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


"j   '      .-' 

IBRARY 


LOAN 

FEB271968 


LD  21A-50m-4,'59 
(A1724slO)476B 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


